


Old Flames, New Fires

by smilyfryz



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coming Out, Complicated Relationships, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Lesbian Sex, Misunderstandings, Non-Canon Relationship, Quidditch, Secret Relationship, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:08:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 60,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23866549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smilyfryz/pseuds/smilyfryz
Summary: Set post war. Hermione and Ginny reconnect at Hogwarts and are forced to reconsider assumptions of the past. Only time will tell what the future has in store for these two firecrackers.This story includes the below topics, please avoid if you don't want to read this content:-Trans character (Included because we need much more trans representation and love)-Cheating (Not included to be condoned, nor vilified for that matter, but more so examined as part of a character's path to embracing their sexuality)
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Harry Potter
Comments: 63
Kudos: 200





	1. (Not So) First Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When that one person you really don't want to see shows up unexpectedly.

**Hermione POV**

The first week of the school year was over, and it was time for Hogwarts' annual First Friday Feast. Hermione smiled to herself as she made her way out of her office and down the hall. Even going into her second year as the Charms professor, there were still times when it felt strange to think that she had her own office at Hogwarts now. On the other hand, it felt so right to be the newest addition to the teaching staff, as she had never felt more at home than in the classroom.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a first year student, who had been in attendance at her lecture earlier in the day, inquiring about the assignment due next week. She didn't mind, she loved working with her students and always appreciated when they came to discuss things with her directly. As Hermione started to reply, she felt eyes on her. Surviving a near apocalypse like Voldemort's reign taught her to never ignore certain instincts, and recognizing when she was being watched was one of them. Even with all the dust having settled and Hogwarts having been back in full action for several years now, she couldn't quite suppress all of her past experiences. She paused mid-sentence and flicked her eyes up and around, scanning her surroundings. Nothing... nothing... and then, suddenly, she saw just the slightest glimpse of red hair darting around the corner down the hall.

She furrowed her brow. If she didn't know any better she would have thought that hair belonged to- “Professor Granger?” her student's voice brought her out of her thoughts again.

“Oh, right, why don't you stop by during my office hours and we can discuss this further.”

“Sure, sounds good” she half heard her student say, her focus stolen.

She smiled down at her student and, before making a conscious decision to move, her feet had carried her off in the opposite direction from the Great Hall, where delicious food awaited, and towards the glimpse of red she had just seen. Of course, the corridor was empty when she rounded the corner. She shook her head at herself and chuckled quietly. She must be seeing things, it wouldn't make any sense for that red, flowing hair to be back at Hogwarts.

Spinning on her heels, she rerouted back to her original course and worked her way towards the delicious smell of a feast. Students were starting to load up their plates as she took her place at the staff table and looked around, noticing that Headmaster McGonagall hadn't arrived yet. As she scanned the room, Hermione reminisced of her time as a student at Hogwarts and briefly relived the joy, the struggles, and everything in-between. She was so thankful that the students seated before her would be able to enjoy all the great things Hogwarts has to offer without facing the same fears of Voldemort and Death Eaters that she and her friends had endured.

She perked up in attention when she realized that Headmaster McGonagall was standing at the Great Hall's podium with an announcement. All of the school year's introductions and reminders had already been made and the first years were all settled in with their respective house tables after each having taken their turn with the sorting hat, so Hermione wondered what this would be about. However, her attention quickly started to dissipate at the mention of quidditch tryouts, which were coming up this weekend.

“We have a special guest to kick-off the season with you this year. They will sit in on tryouts and help each house select their lineups, name their captains, and start in with their first couple weeks of training,” McGonagall explained.

_Good,_ Hermione thought to herself as the announcement continued. The Quidditch program had yet to recover to the level it was at before the war. Having someone help spark renewed interest in joining the school's league would be nice, especially after Madam Hooch's retirement. The couple matches she had attended last year were rather dreadful to sit through, especially having seen Harry play so well at school and then of course there was -

“Ginny Weasley!” McGonagall finished with gusto. Cheering quickly erupted around the hall.

Confused, Hermione looked around the Great Hall with a scrunched up face. She really needed to stop with all her reminiscing, it was especially bad so far this year. She actually thought she just heard that Ginny was on campus which was ridiculous...ly accurate she concluded as she watched Ginny stand at the far end of the staff table and wave out to the students.

_Shit. Fuck. Shit fuck._ She thought to herself in a panic as she snapped her head down towards her plate. She then grimaced at the foul language of her internal dialogue.

**Ginny POV**

The owl inviting Ginny to help kick off the quidditch season at Hogwarts had arrived at the perfect time. The Holyhead Harpies' season was winding down, and Ginny jumped at the chance to both be back at Hogwarts and help rebuild the school's program of her favorite sport.

_What a perfect way to spend my off season,_ she thought to herself as she walked through the school grounds. She didn't mind the 'no apparition' rule, it gave her the chance to become reacquainted with the campus as she made her way to meet Headmaster McGonagall at the school's main entrance. She walked by her favorite pond, the Whomping Willow, the quidditch pitch, and she intended to stop off to say hi to Hagrid, but found him attempting to train a large, scaly creature she had never seen before outside his hut as she approached. It was screeching, breathing blue flames from it's nostrils and thrashing about. _I'll come back later_ , she thought to herself as she hurried off in the other direction, knowing all too well that if Hagrid spotted her he would insist on introducing her to the “simply beautiful and misunderstood” creature.

She reached the top of the entry steps and realized she was a bit early, so Ginny decided she would take a quick walk down the hall and return soon to meet the Headmaster. A moment later, she realized that class must have just ended because a sea of witches and wizards of ranging ages started to dodge around her as they poured out of nearby classrooms. It wasn't long before students started to do a double-take and then point in her direction. Not one for wanting to cause a scene, she quickly peeled out down the hall on her right, followed by a couple quick turns to lose anyone who may have followed, and ended up in a much quieter corridor. Thankfully Hogwarts has quite the complex layout, which made for sufficient escape routes in situations like these. She slowed her pace and looked around, realizing she had landed herself in the professors' office block.

As she continued down the hallway, intending to reroute back to the building's main entrance, a pair of voices became more distinct. The closer she got, the more familiar one of them sounded. She rounded the corner and registered who the voice belonged to right as the back of their head entered into view. Her body froze on the spot, but her eyes ran wild: she would recognize that voice, that full brown hair, that proper posture, and that trim figure anywhere. She now stood directly behind- “Professor Granger?” she heard what looked like a first year inquire, further confirming her suspicions. Her eyes went wide as she realized Hermione had raised her head and was starting to scan her surroundings. She hurled herself around the corner, hoping that she hadn't been spotted.

_Professor? Granger?_ Her mind raced as she booked it down the hall. _I mean I guess it makes sense, last I heard she was completing advanced studies in Magical Education. Ugh, Mum could have mentioned Hermione had taken a position at Hogwarts. Surely she would have heard what with all the gabbing she does._

_S_ he then quickly gulped at the realization that this was clearly a thing she was going to have to deal with sometime soon, but thankfully that time was not now. The clock on the wall beside her started to ding and she quickened her pace even further as she remembered that one of McGongall's biggest pet peeves was tardiness.

After exchanging warm greetings and pleasantries, the Headmaster entered her stern business mode as she gave Ginny the password to the room and office she would have access to during her stay on campus and laid out a couple guidelines and expectations. She then brightened considerably in the same way she used to when Ginny was still a student at Hogwarts as she continued, “Oh, I can't wait to see the looks on the students' faces when I announce you're here!”

“Is that necessary? I mean, don't feel obligated to make a special announcement or anything, I don't want to cause too much of a ruckus. I can lay low until the tryouts start this weekend if that's easier,” Ginny finished, trying her best to sound casual and impartial of the outcome.

“Well dear,” McGonagall smirked, far too clever to be outmaneuvered so easily, “I can appreciate the humility, but causing a ruckus is the reason you're here, I'm afraid there's no way around it!”

“Oh, right. Works for me then,” she conceded with a small sigh. You would think after being named the top Chaser in England's professional quidditch league for 3 years straight and surviving numerous interviews, meet and greets, autograph sessions, sponsorship events, and all the other “fun” that came with being a professional athlete, Ginny would be more comfortable with being the center of attention, but it was never her thing. As she consistently reiterates during interviews in an honest attempt to make people stop fussing over her, “I'm not some hero or anything at all like that. I just really love the sport, and I work at it every day to be the best I can.” Unfortunately, regarding herself in such a manner unintentionally drew an even bigger, and more devoted, fan base.

She trailed the Headmaster through the side entrance of the Great Hall and, following McGonagall's cue, took a seat in the nearest empty chair at the staff table. She watched as McGonagall approached the podium to announce her arrival to the student body. _You can do this, same as always. Just smile and wave,_ she gave herself the usual pep talk. She stood moments later after hearing her name called and did exactly that, smiled and waved out to the students. It was actually really nice to receive such a warm welcome. It then hit her that Hermione was likely in the room and she glanced down the staff table to her right. Sure enough, she caught sight of the brunette staring determinedly down at her food. If she had to guess, she'd say Hermione appeared none too pleased with Ginny's presence on campus.

_Perfect,_ she thought to herself before quickly taking a seat.


	2. Plans and Priorities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When avoidance doesn't go so well.

**Hermione POV**

Hermione couldn't exit the Great Hall soon enough after dinner and her mood improved substantially upon doing so, especially knowing where she was headed to next. She left the crowds gathering around Ginny behind as she trotted along to McGonagall's office for their appointment. The Headmaster was committed to mentoring Hermione through her career as a Hogwarts professor whenever her busy schedule allowed. Having periodic check-ins like today's was one of the many ways she helped support the newest member of the Hogwarts teaching staff.

“I've had a thought,” McGonagall dove right in as Hermione took a seat. She quirked up an eyebrow in anticipation. “As you know, Gryffindor's Head of House has alternated each year since I became Headmaster.” “I think it may be time for a more permanent assignment to the position. Would you be interested?” McGonagall finished.

  
Hermione replied, “I mean of course, it would be an honor, but are you sure? Wouldn't I be-”

“The youngest ever to hold the position,” McGonagall finished for her with a twinkle in her eyes. It mirrored the expression worn by Dumbledore when he was proud of her, Ron, and Harry back when they were students. Replacing Dumbledore was a nearly impossible feat, but McGonagall really was doing a wonderful job of running the school.

“I was going to say in over my head. Am I ready for that sort of thing?” Hermione questioned.

“The fact that you have the awareness to ask that question shows me that you take the responsibility seriously, which is very important. Why don't we see how this year goes and I'll give you my final answer to that question before summer break? For now, perhaps I'll consider you Gryffindor's Head of House in Training.” The Headmaster wore a satisfied smile with her conclusion.

“Sounds like a plan.” She replied with a grin. _This is huge,_ she thought. She cared far more that McGonagall, a witch she had long regarded in the highest esteem, believed in her than the prospect of having the Head of House title. Although, becoming the youngest person ever to hold said title would be pretty neat.

“Marvelous, I went ahead with Prefect selection as you likely noticed, but I'll route standard House questions and requests to you going forward. We can start to ease you into the other responsibilities for you to take a swing at, the first being” the Headmaster's eyes narrowed slightly as she paused, adjusted her glasses, and glanced at the clock. Not a second later a knock sounded on the office door. “Right on time,” she nodded in approval as she finished.

McGonagall waved her hand and the door seemingly unlocked and opened of it's own accord.

Hermione glanced over her shoulder to see who was at the door. The same flash of red she had seen earlier in the day entered into view, except this time the movement was towards her and not further away.

_Should have known,_ she grumbled internally, immediately spinning back around in her chair.

**Ginny POV**

“Oh, s-sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll wait outside.” The redhead apologized and began backing out of the room as quickly as she had entered.

“No, Ginevra, you're in the right place, Professor Granger will be the one showing you to your quarters this evening.” the Headmaster informed.

“I will?” She heard Hermione ask the Headmaster in a tone that indicated she was just learning of her involvement. “I mean, right, of course I will.” Hermione recovered with a small smile to the Headmaster, as though she had seemingly connected the dots on something.

“Off you go then, I'm sure you both could use some rest before the big weekend,” the Headmaster grinned with more than a hint of excitement. A moment later McGonagall raised a finger and added, “Ah, Madam Hooch's old office and room will do.” Ginny saw Hermione flash that smile she knew all too well, she used to know it well rather, as the Headmaster seemed to anticipate Hermione's question and answered it right as she opened her mouth to ask.

Hermione nodded her understanding to the school's Headmaster and rose from her seat. She turned and walked towards Ginny, who immediately began to panic. _Shit, do we hug? Could be too much._ _Shake hands? That'd just be strange._

“After you,” Hermione had paused and gestured out of the office, not getting close enough for a formal greeting to occur and not making eye contact.

“Right, thanks.” Ginny immediately spun and exited the room without hesitation.

_Not great, but I guess that wasn't the worst interaction that could have transpired, especially with McGonagall watching,_ she thought _._

Once they were clear of the office, Hermione darted ahead without saying a word. Ginny quickened her pace to keep up.

_I guess a conversation is off the table then,_ Ginny concluded silently as she trailed along.

However, after a solid minute of silence, Hermione, threw her head to the side and drawled dryly over her shoulder, “So, you're here then.”

“As are you,” came Ginny's instinctively blunt reply.

“I do work and live here, so it shouldn't be all that surprising, finding me at Hogwarts.” Ginny could picture from personal experience the frown Hermione would be wearing to match that tone.

“I wasn't aware,” was the redhead's simple reply as she shrugged. Of course it would have been big news, Hermione's accepting a position at Hogwarts. There was much prestige that came with becoming a member of the Hogwarts teaching staff, and the brunette was already extremely well known for her pivotal role in defeating Voldemort. Ginny must have missed the memo due to her hectic schedule of training, league play, tournaments, and promotional events.

“You are now, I suppose?” retorted Hermione after a pause. Ginny was relieved to hear this comment sounding like more of a tease than an insult, and she pictured a smirk on the other woman's face this time.

“Confirmed. Kindly excuse my initial ignorance of the matter, _Professor,_ I've been traveling quite a bit as of late.” Ginny offered with a sly grin. She honestly couldn't tell if they were crossing into what was their usual banter of days long past or if Hermione really was that irritated to have her around. She feared the latter was likely the case, but either way, she had always appreciated the quick-wittedness of the the woman that led her down the hall.

“Well then, here we are.” Hermione concluded neutrally as she stopped. “Figuratively and literally,” she added, turning and gesturing toward the office beside her without facing back towards Ginny. 

Fearing she had miscalculated with her prior quip, Ginny quickly stepped up to the door and called out the password previously provided to her. The door sprung open and Ginny took a step inside without looking back. The room was welcoming with a fire roaring in the fireplace. Her luggage was stacked neatly in the closet and she could see some of her belongings had been unloaded to their logical places around the room. 

“It's good to see you, Gin.” Hermione said from the doorway behind her in a softened tone. Ginny turned around to face her at the same time Hermione looked up from the rug she had apparently been staring down at, causing them to make direct eye contact for the first time since her arrival on campus. Hermione's face fell immediately as she exhaled quickly, broke their eye contact as suddenly as they had made it, and glared out the window. It was almost as if the words had escaped her mouth by accident.

“ _Is_ it?” Ginny asked with a subtle wince as she awaited the reply.

Hermione sighed as though this conversation had become tiresome. “Well, completely unexpected and mildly irksome to be surprised by you popping up like this if I'm being honest,” Hermione began brashly before settling a bit and continuing in a more composed tone, “but the quidditch program could certainly use some work, and I think your being here will be good for the school.”

Ginny nodded slowly in appreciation. Seeing Hermione brought back so many memories and a full range of emotions, and just being in the same room and talking to each other caused Ginny's pulse to pick up. Guilt had been the reigning emotion since their last meeting, and that hadn't changed. Even though she had no idea how, she wanted to make things right between them. Words suddenly started to flood out, “Look, about what hap-”

Hermione interjected, “Let me know if you need anything. You know, for your room or anything like that, okay? I'm right down the hall. Otherwise, I'll stay out of your way.” A brief pause passed before Hermione added “Night.” as she turned to exit the room, effectively signaling the end of their conversation.

“Yeah. Alright. Cheers, Mione.” Ginny signed-off somberly and then quickly realized her mistake. The nickname she used to call Hermione had slipped out. She began to silently scold herself, but stopped when she realized the brunette had called her Gin just moments before. At least she wasn't the only one that had accidentally fallen back into familiar terms. She realized when she looked up that Hermione had paused at the door, facing out to the empty corridor. Before she could even think of whether she should say something, let alone what she would say if she decided to, the other witch had sped off.

_Welp, that went well, at least tomorrow I'll be off at the quidditch pitch all day. Doubt we'll run into each other there,_ she reassured herself with a smirk. Hermione would surely have a million and one things she'd rather do than watch quidditch tryouts on a Saturday morning.


	3. A "Perfect" Day for Quidditch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things in life you just can't control.

** Hermione POV **

“Good morning, Professor Granger,” McGonagall greeted cheerily as Hermione took a seat at the staff table for breakfast the following day. 

“Morning, Headmaster,” Hermione nodded back. “You're in high spirits today.”

“Well it's a perfect day for quidditch, isn't it?” The Headmaster beamed. 

Hermione raised her eyebrows and glanced out the window before agreeing, “Sure is. Ah, right, for tryouts.” She accidentally recalled the last bit aloud.

“Which I assume you'll be attending. Or did you expect the Gryffindor captain to choose itself?” McGonagall asked incredulously, clearly appalled that Hermione hadn't recognized this was something she would be involved in.

“Oh, uh no, I'll be there!” Hermione confirmed. 

** … **

As Hermione trudged off to the quidditch pitch 30 minutes later, her steps (stomps would be the more appropriate descriptor) were laced with agitation. _This is NOT what I had in mind: not for my Saturday, not for my start of term, and not for my trial period as Head of House. This has got to be some sort of sick joke,_ she silently raged.

It was just her luck that Hermione, who had intended to avoid Ginny for the duration of her stay at Hogwarts, would now be forced to see the redhead while fulfilling Gryffindor's quidditch related Head of House duties. Maybe she didn't want the responsibility that went along with holding the title after all.

Hermione arrived to the school's quidditch pitch 10 minutes early, naturally, and soon noticed there was already a large group of Gryffindor students gathered on the field with plenty more seated in the surrounding stands. As she continued to look around, she realized that there were even some students from other houses in the stands as well. In fact, she hadn't seen this many people at the pitch in ages. This only proved to irritate Hermione even further because she knew the crowd must have gathered due to Ginny's involvement (that was the point of her being there, after all). Before she could even roll her eyes as dramatically as the situation _blatantly_ justified, she was interrupted by a voice behind her.

“So much for staying out of my way then; knew you wouldn't be able to resist,” Ginny teased while brushing past Hermione as she made her way out of the locker room. With a quick flick of her wrist, the redhead ushered in a large cart of gear that was levitating behind her and took stock of the items now floating beside her as though she felt she was forgetting something.

“Don't flatter yourself, Ginevra,” Hermione scoffed as she cut in dryly.

“I meant quidditch tryouts, because you- supposed to be a joke,” Ginny scrambled to clarify, going a bit red. She dodged eye contact as she sent the quidditch kit on ahead to the center of the pitch, where students were split between stretching and intently watching Ginny's every move now that she was in sight. Ginny seemed a bit flustered as she tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear.

“Obviously, I knew that,” Hermione snapped back after a moment's pause. She then quickly busied herself with scanning the tryout attendees from a distance, as if she were qualified to assess them in the first place, in an attempt to hide the blush her mistake was causing to creep up her neck.

“Why _are_ you here by the way? Isn't this the last place you want to be spending your Saturday?” Ginny questioned.

“Why does everyone think I hate quidditch so much? I'll admit it's not my greatest passion in life by any means, but I don't dislike it _that_ much,” Hermione responded in annoyance.

“Yeah, that time I meant spending the day around me,” Ginny replied smartly, smirking as she daringly threw a glance in Hermione's direction.

“Enjoying yourself, are you?” Hermione frowned at her as she shook her head, but the hint of a smile that formed at the corner of her mouth gave her away.

“Trying to, tough crowd today though. Guess I'd better cut my losses and get to work,” Ginny decided as she seemed to suddenly recall what she was looking for earlier and extended her arm out expectantly. Hermione didn't have to wait long to realize that the redhead had summoned her broomstick because seconds later it came rocketing out of the locker room at a concerning speed. Hermione braced herself for some sort of injury from the impending collision, yet somehow the broomstick managed to land gracefully into Ginny's open hand. At that, she spun around and strode off towards the students awaiting her.

“Probably for the best,” Hermione called after her, still slightly shaken up, but satisfied that she had gotten the last word in at least.

Ginny threw a stern look back over her shoulder before she broke into a quick grin, hopped onto her broomstick sidesaddle style, gave Hermione a quick salute, and finally launched off towards the center of the pitch. _Such a show off,_ Hermione thought to herself as students cheered. She shook her head in a display of disapproval, but anyone watching her closely enough would have noticed that tinge of a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth again. 

Hermione made her way into the stands, cast a spell to improve her vision and hearing, and tried to pay attention as Ginny addressed the attending Gryffindors and gave them an overview of what the tryout would entail. She instead found herself thinking about how Ginny was still the same firecracker she had grown up with: smart, witty, and sassy. Hermione didn't understand how Ginny could still manage to improve her mood even when she was determined to be anything but pleasant like she had moments ago. Ginny was also in really good shape, even better than before if that was possible.  Hermione hadn't meant to look, obviously the improved vision was responsible for her noticing all that shoulder definition and how Ginny's shiny, red hair was longer now. _Wow, she can really throw a quaffle,_ Hermione thought as she watched Ginny walk the potential Gryffindor team members through some proper warm-up exercises. It had been, what, 3 years since she had seen Ginny last? It had felt like a lifetime had passed with all that had changed since their last meeting, yet with Ginny here now it felt like only yesterday that they had- 

“How are we looking so far? Anyone standing out as captain material?” Hermione, who hadn't realized she had been buried so deep in thought, jumped at McGonagall's earnest questions.

“Ehm, well, I've no idea yet to be honest.” Hermione admitted.

McGonagall rolled her eyes with feigned concern and continued, “Well, I suppose it's a good thing we have a professional on-site for you to consult with, isn't it?” She added a wink at the end for good measure.

“Lucky me,” Hermione replied, not quite able to stifle an eye roll of her own.

“I don't know what's going on with you two, but you've been friends since I've known you and were almost family for goodness sake. Surely you can handle working as a team on this?” McGonagall inquired, her concern appearing authentic this time.

“Of course, it will be fine,” Hermione confirmed absently.

McGonagall's stern voice brought her right back to attention, “I certainly hope it will be better than fine. I'm trusting you to see to it that Ms. Weasley enjoys her time here. We're considering extending a permanent position to her at the end of the year if all goes well.”

Hermione's jaw dropped in surprise, but she quickly recovered into a smile and assured the school's Headmaster, “Wow, that's great.” She quickly added, “We'll be great.”

“Good,” McGonagall nodded appreciatively. “Anyways, saw you and thought I'd check-in. I'm actually heading off campus for a few appointments, so let me know how it goes today. I look forward to hearing what you two decide.”

“Sure thing,” Hermione replied as McGonagall moved out with purpose.

_Almost family_ , she repeated the Headmaster's words in her head and instantly felt sick to her stomach. This day kept getting worse. 

** Ginny POV **

Ginny flew out to the center of the quidditch field desperately hoping she hadn't gone too far with her teasing. The last thing she wanted to do was make Hermione feel uncomfortable, especially with everything she'd been through. It seemed that being around Hermione again, and at Hogwarts no less, had them falling back into the way they used to act towards each other at times. The problem was that they acted this way before lines had been blurred, before  _she, Ginny,_ had blurred them. It hadn't been intentional; hell, she didn't even remember how it happened, but it  _had_ to have been her. There's no way Hermione would have initiated it. 

Ginny snapped herself out of it and focused on the task at hand. The best she could do in this situation was be polite and try to stay positive. The past was in the past, and she had her work cut out for her today: more than she realized as it turned out. After a couple warm-ups on the ground, a tryout in the air should have come next. Instead, a flying lesson was required for some. Ginny refused to turn anyone away that had made the time to come out and take an interest in her favorite sport, so she broke the students out into groups by their experience level. She alternated between the groups, giving encouragement and direction as she went. The individuals who could already fly and play the game worked on small field drills centered around defensive and offensive possession transitions. She was pleased at how quickly a few students were able to advance to the next group. After about an hour, she had enough to arrange a full field scrimmage. 

** … **

It wasn't great, but there was potential, and she could work with that. Ginny smiled contently after having dismissed the group of Gryffindors and letting them know she would reach out soon with next steps. Working with the students and watching them start to improve right before her eyes was gratifying. So much so, in fact, that she had completely forgotten about Hermione, who she found leaning against a brick wall near the exit gate when she went to leave awhile later. Ginny had intentionally taken her time with closing up the locker room in hopes of avoiding a crowd, but as she approached she considered whether that would have been the preferable alternative to another interaction with Hermione. 

Ginny arched an eyebrow as she realized Hermione was scribbling notes furiously and hadn't noticed her arrival.

It felt weird to not say anything at all, and she definitely didn't want to startle the other woman and piss her off for what would probably be the hundredth time since she arrived at Hogwarts, so she called out,  “You're still here? I'm impressed.” 

“Well how else would I go about selecting Gryffindor's captain?” Hermione snapped while flipping a page and continuing to take notes without even looking up.

“Isn't that the Head of House's responsi– oh, today makes so much more sense now,” Ginny replied after solving her own equation. “Congrats, Hermione, that's awesome.” Ginny added.

“Nothing's official, this year is sort of a trial period, hence-” Hermione held up the multiple pages of notes she had taken during the Gryffindor tryout to complete her reply. She then immediately dove back into her note taking as though she had remembered a make or break detail. 

“I see. Still, you should be proud,” Ginny replied with a genuine smile.

“Says the internationally renown professional athlete,” Hermione said with an eye-roll.

“Yeah well, don't remind me,” Ginny replied plainly.

“You _really_ don't like being famous, do you?” Hermione asked, her tone inadvertently softening as she finally looked up and regarded Ginny curiously.

“Not particularly. On the pitch I don't even think about it; I just play. It's all the off-the-field stuff that starts to get to me. I mean, I love the support, it's amazing. But it can be a bit exhausting: people wanting to know everything about you and what you're up to all the time. I really don't understand why people are so interested. I'm really quite boring.” Ginny answered. 

“Do you want to grab a drink in Hogsmeade tonight?” Hermione asked suddenly.

“Really?” Ginny questioned in surprise.

Hermione appeared mildly caught off guard by her own question and seemed to search for an explanation, “Uh, yeah. To strategize for a winning season for Gryffindor. If I'm going to do this I might as well do it right. We don't have to though, you probably already have-”

“Sure, I'm in,” Ginny agreed.

“Really?” Hermione questioned back, appearing equally surprised that Ginny had accepted.

“Yeah. Besides, I'll need a drink after the interview I've got coming up. Apparently the world needs to know how tryouts are going so far,” Ginny said. “In fact, better make it two drinks,” she concluded.

Hermione chuckled and Ginny couldn't help but grin back at her. She suddenly got shy and added, “But we really don't have to.”

“Two it is, just make sure to tell them Gryffindor is set to win it all.” Hermione said, knowing McGonagall would love that, even if she would never admit it now that she was Headmaster.

“Despite their lackluster leader.” Ginny cut in with a laugh. “Kidding!” she added as she saw Hermione's face scrunch up in agitation. 

“I guess you'll have to show me the ropes,” Hermione stated, looking serious.

“Well then, pick me up at 8?” Ginny teased.

“If you're lucky.” Hermione replied.

The two women chuckled for a moment before they turned to exit the pitch. Ginny quickly locked up the field's entryway gate on her way out before facing back towards Hermione.

“On a serious note, who the heck should be named Gryffindor captain this year? McGonagall will kill me if I don't get this right.” Hermione's stressed state seemed to have returned.

Ginny laughed before assuring the brunette, “Don't worry, we've got this. I'll give you my full analysis later.“ She paused before continuing on with a sly grin “Why don't you bring your novel you've got there though. You know, to make sure we don't leave out any key considerations.”

Hermione bit her lip, refusing to react to the instigation. She did her best to ignore the second half of Ginny's statement, and replied crisply, “Looking forward to it.”

“I'm not sure if I fully believe that,” Ginny challenged.

“Me either.” Hermione admitted frankly. 

The two women chuckled again and locked eyes mid-laugh. The laughing slowed and landed them into bright smiles. Oddly enough, comfortable silence settled in.

Ginny had missed this. It had always felt good to be around Hermione. They had been best friends for so long, and to stop speaking to each other so suddenly had been one of the most difficult things she had ever done. What else were they supposed to do though, after the mess she had landed them in? She never let herself think back to that day, the guilt and the pain was unbearable. 

_ Fuck, how long have I been staring into her eyes like a creep?  _ Ginny panicked as she resurfaced from her thoughts. “Uh, so I'd better be going. Interview's coming up,” Ginny announced awkwardly as she quickly tore her eyes away and shoved her hands into her pockets.

“D-Definitely. Yeah, good luck,” Hermione replied, seeming somewhat startled.

“Thanks, I'll need it,” Ginny groaned as she kicked a nearby rock.

“Oh stop, you always interview well,” the brunette reassured her.

“You watch my interviews?” Ginny's asked. The shock at what she heard made her forget about avoiding Hermione's gaze, and she looked directly at the other woman.

Hermione took her turn of dodging eye contact this time as she went red at what appeared to be an accidental admission and quickly revised her statement, “Well at least that's what Harry tells me.”

“Right, Harry tells you that,” Ginny replied with renewed confidence and an amused grin.

“Off you go then, don't want you to be late for your close-up, Miss Superstar,” Hermione deflected with a light push to Ginny's shoulder. 

Ginny scowled and opened her mouth to object, but stopped abruptly when she heard the clock tower start to chime. “Shit you're right, I really gotta run,” Ginny said. She waved over her shoulder as she sped off.

“And don't forget about tonight either. You're not off the hook,” Hermione called after her.

“Wouldn't dream of it, and neither are you!” Ginny shouted back.


	4. Tripping Down Memory Lane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Firewhisky, enough said.

** Hermione POV **

At 8:00 that evening, Hermione kept her word and confidently knocked on Ginny's room door. When nobody answered, she immediately started to question herself, _What the hell am I doing here? Surely Ginny was being polite earlier and doesn't actually want to get a drink, you idiot!_ Hermione backed away from the door as if it were a Dementor trying to suck the life out of her and quickly began to retreat back to her room so she could do literally anything other than stand outside Ginny's room like a weirdo. She had just called out the password to her own room when she heard someone hustling around the corner behind her.

“Wait, I'm here!” Ginny called out at the sight of Hermione about to disappear into her room. Hermione returned back into full view and Ginny continued to explain as she sped by, “Sorry, tryouts went late. Give me a minute to set my stuff down and change really quickly, then I'm good to go.”

Ginny resurfaced from her room moments later and, upon seeing Hermione's mouth open to give her a hard time, held up a hand and spoke first,” Please don't give me the timeliness speech. I know it's one of your favorites, but I already heard it from McGonagall yesterday!” 

Hermione closed her mouth into a smirk and tried to deny the obvious, “Wasn't going to say a thing! First round is on you though, Superstar.”

Twenty minutes later, the two women were placing their order at a new pub that had popped up in Hogsmeade. What felt like mere seconds after ordering, their drinks and appetizers appeared on the table before them out of thin air. Hermione smiled to herself at the lack of waiting time. Wizard owned pubs did have an edge on their muggle owned counterparts in that additional tables could always be added when needed and, more importantly, food and drinks appeared almost instantaneously upon ordering.

It struck Hermione that she had no idea what to say now that the two of them had actually made it a point to talk. She smiled nervously and started “So...”

Ginny scrunched her nose the slightest bit for a moment, perhaps intrigued by Hermione's sudden loss of words, before raising her glass to propose a toast, “To quidditch, the world's most irresistible sport.” Hermione laughed as they clinked and repeated, “To quidditch.”

Before Hermione could successfully counter Ginny's comment, she heard a sound that, while very familiar to her, was strange to encounter outside of when accompanied by muggles.

“Ginny, is that a- phone?” Hermione asked with a puzzled look on her face.

Sure enough, Hermione watched as Ginny pulled out an old school flip cell phone from her bag. It was the same one Hermione had gotten each member of the Weasley family for Christmas what had to have been 5 years ago now. It had been an entertaining ordeal, to explain to them how a family plan worked and teach them how to make calls and how to text and how to use the horrible quality camera. Hermione chuckled at the sight of it, having thought they would have all been long gone by now. _Guess it really was one of their favorite muggle inventions ever,_ she thought.

Ginny sighed as she raised the phone to face level, eyed it cautiously as though she were concerned that whoever was calling would be able to hear her even as the phone continued to ring, and finally explained, “Mum insists we have them on us at all times now. Probably afraid another one of us is going to drop-” the explanation stopped abruptly and Hermione watched as Ginny gulped and then quickly clicked the answer button. 

Before Ginny could even finish the word “Hi”, Molly Weasley had cut in with full force, “Well then, always a great feeling to learn from an INTERVIEW that your daughter is seeing someone. I swear it's like I don't even know you anymore!” Hermione heard Mrs. Weasley huff dramatically through the phone. Hermione was about to ask Ginny if speakerphone was on because she could hear everything being said, but didn't get the chance. 

“What are you even talking about? I said I _wasn't_ dating anyone, and why do you waste your time watching that stuff? I should've known they wouldn't stick to the damn script.” Ginny replied in annoyance as she scowled up a storm. Hermione wondered if that was how she had looked earlier in the day when she had snapped at Ginny (repeatedly) and made a silent note to try and be a little nicer going forward, it was McGonagall's orders after all. 

“Ginevra Molly Weasley, do not insult my intelligence, a mother knows when their child is lying. And maybe I watch because it's the only time I actually get to see you these days. Ever think about that?” Molly further provoked.

Hermione could tell from one look at Ginny's face that patience was in short supply right now. “I don't know what to tell you, I'm not lying. And I was at yours a few weeks ago.”

“Fine but if you're not dating someone there's got to be someone you _want_ to be dating. Why else would you turn beet red at a question like that? So, who's the lucky gal?”

Ginny sighed and Hermione could see the effort Ginny was making to not completely blow up, “Okay, Mum, I've got to go because I'm-” 

“On a date, aren't you!?” Mrs. Weasley accused. 

Ginny, who had at last been pushed past the point of maintaining her composure, snapped back without hesitation, “Actually, if you must know, I'm getting a drink with Hermione, so I'll talk to you la-” 

“You put her on right this instant” Molly ordered. 

Ginny's sudden shift in facial expression confirmed her realization at what she'd done, and she immediately tried to undo it. “But-” Ginny began to protest.

“Now!” Mrs. Weasley demanded.

“Sorry,” Ginny mouthed from across the table as she passed the phone over to Hermione. The apologetic look on Ginny's face made it known that she really hadn't meant to drop her name.

“Hello?” Hermione spoke into the phone tentatively; she knew she was in for it.

“And where have you been all this time, leaving me to worry about you like that? I've learned to expect it out of my runaway daughter, but I had higher hopes for you!”

Hermione, who feared any response she gave would be an incorrect choice, finally settled and said, “Well I'm working at Hog-”

“Yes, yes of course you're at Hogwarts, dear.” Molly cut her off and she could picture the woman's animated hand gestures that she was sure she'd witness if they were speaking face-to-face rather than on the phone. There was a pause during which Hermione's eyes became slits as she prepared for a verbal lashing and then an unexpected conclusion occurred instead, “You'll have to tell me all about it when you and Ginny come to visit on the 27th.”

“When I what?” Hermione asked, completely caught off guard.

Hermione looked lost as she peered across the table, and Ginny instinctively grabbed the phone back to come to Hermione's rescue, “We're working, Mother, we can't drop everything and come visit whenever you decide to throw a fit.”

“Working from the pub, are you?” Mrs. Weasley called them out relentlessly, “Besides, it would be quite a shame if you truly need your mother to throw a fit to get you to attend your own father's birthday, wouldn't it?” 

Ginny, who had always been awful when it came to remembering important dates, silently mouthed “Oh shit”, and it was Hermione who came to the rescue this time as she suddenly leaned across the table and replied on Ginny's behalf, “Ginny's only teasing, Molly, you know how she gets when she's hungry, we'll be there with bells on.” 

Ginny's initial reaction appeared to be a sigh of relief, but Hermione saw that she soon registered what the decided outcome had been. She hit the mute button, after a brief delay of wildly searching for it which indicated she was a touch out of practice. “What in Merlin's name are you doing?!” Ginny questioned. 

Hermione shrugged as she looked down at the muted phone, which had Mrs Weasley excitedly declaring, “Oh wonderful, Arthur and I will be so pleased to see you, Hermione.” As the phone went silent she looked back up at Ginny, who was looking at her expectantly as though she was waiting for Hermione to come to her senses and change her mind. When she didn't, Ginny raised a brow to indicate it was her last chance. She finally let out an exasperated breath, unmuted the phone, and barked, “Fine, see you then. Bye.” Ginny then quickly clicked the phone off before her mother could reply and Hermione immediately knew that it wouldn't go over well with Molly.

Within seconds, Ginny's phone began to chime several times in a row at the receipt of multiple text messages, and Hermione had her suspicions of how they might read. Ginny threw the phone back into her bag without looking at the messages as she continued, “Look, you don't have to go, she's out of control. The 27th, that's what, 2 weekends out? I'll show up and say you got super busy with work so you couldn't make it.” 

“I've been a total ass, haven't I?” Hermione realized aloud as she stared down at the tabletop.

“What do you mean?” Ginny asked.

“I just stopped coming by, talking to everyone.” Hermione recalled. 

“No. I mean, I guess yeah, you kind of did. But it's not your fault. I'm the-” Ginny's reply was cut off.

“It would be good to see your family.” Hermione concluded.

“You're sure? You know how they get. It can be a lot, even for me.” Ginny warned.

“Really? Thought you handled that call quite well, really kept you're composure,” Hermione instigated.

“You're one to talk,” Ginny pointed out.

“Fair, but seriously, it feels like something I've got to make right.” Hermione explained.

“If you insist.” Ginny grumbled, clearly stressed by the matter

After a brief moment of silence, Hermione transitioned topics, “So, sounds like someone had quite the interview earlier. Care to share with the class?” 

“What, you mean you weren't watching it live?” Ginny quipped back expertly.

“Well played,” Hermione laughed and added, “but I really didn't watch this one.”

“So you admit you've watched the others?” Ginny teased.

“Never, and you shouldn't lie to your mum.” Hermione scolded.

“I didn't!” Ginny exclaimed in her own defense.

“Come on,” Hermione prodded, “You're going to try and tell me that you're not seeing anyone with all the fan girls you must have?”

“Do I seem like someone who would take advantage of that?” Ginny asked, and she almost sounded saddened by Hermione's suggestion.

“Suppose not. Oh I know, what about that blonde they're always spotting you with? Or so I have heard that they do,” Hermione added choppily.

“Smooth. And I literally don't even know who you're referring to. I guess it's probably my friend, Sam, or one of my teammates. Either way, there's nothing going on there.”

“So there's really nobody?” Hermione asked in disbelief. 

“Does there have to be? I thought you of all people would understand focusing on self-improvement and pursuing your goals,” Ginny countered.

“For all you know I could be seeing someone!” Hermione pointed out.

“And, are you?” Ginny quizzed.

“Well, would _you_ have time to be seeing someone between publishing an essay on abolishing Horcruxes, completing an accelerated advanced degree in Magical Education, joining the Hogwarts teaching staff, and possibly becoming the youngest Head of House in school history, Ginevra? Not to mention-”

“Case in point.” Ginny cut her off with a snort.

Hermione fell silent and then laughed at herself when she realized she had gone off. “Fine, so I'm not seeing anyone,” she admitted.

“Sorted,” Ginny concluded with a chuckle.

“But I could be if I wanted to,” Hermione added seriously.

“I don't doubt it,” Ginny agreed.

“Good.” Hermione said with emphasis.

“Great.” Ginny mirrored Hermione's exaggerative tone.

They smiled at each other for a moment. 

_ Three years apart and nothing's changed,  _ Hermione thought, feeling torn as her mind continued to race. It was such a good feeling to have Ginny around again, but as much as she hated to admit it, she could tell that time hadn't tamed her feelings towards the woman in front of her which meant it was only a matter of time before- 

“I think it's time for some firewhisky.” Hermione suddenly broke into both her own thoughts and the silence as she signaled to their server. For once, she had had enough of thinking and she wanted to get out of her head for a change. 

As it turned out, an extremely low alcohol tolerance with a side of dangerously strong drinks made that a very easy goal to accomplish.

** Ginny POV **

Ginny adamantly declined the second round of firewhisky and kept to two drinks as originally planned. She knew better than to let herself drink too much around Hermione. She was _not_ going to let herself make that mistake again. Ginny had hoped that her turning down the third round would cause Hermione to do the same, because she could tell that Hermione was starting to get a little drunk, but no such luck. Thankfully, Hermione listened when Ginny mentioned they should probably head back instead of her getting yet another round.

She kept a close eye on Hermione on the walk back to campus, and noticed that Hermione seemed to be getting both more drunk and more daring as the second firewhisky started to take its toll. Recognizing that they were almost back to campus, Ginny insisted on giving Hermione a piggyback ride for the remainder of the journey, which was happily accepted. Ginny leaned down a bit to make it easier for Hermione to climb onto her back, and breathed a slight sigh of relief once she was secure. Ginny then kept her left arm wrapped around Hermione's leg to make sure she wouldn't fall while her right hand found Hermione's left forearm wrapped around her neck as she silently cast the Invisibility spell. Ginny took a quick glance down and confirmed the spell had effectively been applied to both of them as intended.

She soon felt Hermione's chin rest on the top of her head as she suddenly said, “I like you.” And Ginny knew Hermione was drunk and that it meant nothing come tomorrow, but it was still good to hear her say it and sound so certain because for so many years the two of them had been close and she had never had to question if that were the case. And if Ginny were being honest with herself she'd admit that she missed that feeling of certainty. 

“Well,” Hermione demanded after not getting the response she sought. 

“Yes?” Ginny asked, and she was glad that Hermione couldn't see her face because she would have really had a tough time trying to conceal the huge smirk she was wearing as she pretended not to know what Hermione was after.

“Do you like me?” Hermione questioned, and Ginny was trying her hardest not to lose it and start laughing uncontrollably because she could already tell that Hermione would take it the wrong way and make her pay for it by being extremely difficult and pouty when she needed her to stay quiet now that they were crossing back onto campus. 

“Of course,” Ginny said. 

“Of course, what?” Hermione pushed even further.

“Of course I like you, silly. Now will you relax? We're almost back.” Ginny informed as they crept through the castle's side entrance by the Professor's block, and she couldn't help but wonder if the entrance existed for exactly instances like this. Finally in front of Hermione's room door, Ginny removed the Invisibility charm as she helped Hermione with her dismount. 

Even though it hadn't been a very long walk back, it still felt good to be able to see the woman before her again. Ginny smiled at how Hermione blinked delicately while her eyes adjusted to the light now that they were indoors.

“What's your password?” Ginny asked and seconds later Hermione had called it out and the door had sprung open. Ginny knew she was seconds away from successfully returning a drunken Hermione safely to her room and was feeling quite proud of her victory. That is, until Hermione tripped on the threshold of the door to her room causing Ginny, who had certainly intended _not_ to enter the other woman's room, to spring forward into action and cast back-to-back spells, one spinning Hermione back around and into her so that she could wrap an arm around her waist to stabilize her and the other preventing the door from slamming behind them. 

“Impressive,” Hermione complimented as she let out a hiccup. Ginny felt Hermione relax into her arms and rest her head onto Ginny's shoulder, facing into her. Each breath danced around Ginny's neck and sent chills down her spine, and Ginny grew alarmingly aware of the situation at hand. She took a deep breath to sober herself up and thought, _This needs to stop_.

“Mione,” Ginny said softly as she carefully helped the other woman stand up (somewhat) straight again. She kept her arms at the brunette's sides just in case. Hermione picked her head up slowly so that their faces were mere inches apart with Hermione's head tilted slightly upwards and Ginny's slightly downwards being a bit taller. It hit Ginny that solving one problem had quickly created another as she saw Hermione's eye's drop down to her lips for a brief second. Ginny's heart immediately skipped a beat. They then locked eyes again and Hermione smiled at her. In that moment, Ginny couldn't stop herself from recognizing that the woman before her was absolutely stunning. It was a fact she had long known deep down, but had trained herself to ignore (or to try to anyway). 

Hermione interrupted the redhead's thoughts as she ever so slightly furrowed her brow and bit her lip, as if deciding on something, before she slowly started to close what little distance there was between them. Ginny's eyes flickered closed as her breathing hitched, she could feel Hermione's breath on her lips and she knew what would come next unless she acted quickly. 

“Please don't do this to me.” Ginny said softly, turning her head away slightly with her last ounce of restraint, “We'll wake up tomorrow and I'll feel like some monster that took advantage of you all over again.”

“That's not what this is, Gin,” Hermione argued as she leaned slightly back, quickly grabbing Ginny's forearm for support. 

“Yeah? Then what is it?” Ginny asked, humoring the brunette as she swept her up and carried her across the room.

“I-I'm not sure, but I know it feels right. It always has,” Hermione admitted as she twirled Ginny's hair while being carried.

Ginny carefully set Hermione down so that she was seated safely on her bed and then purposefully took a step back to create some distance between them before replying, “Okay, so best case scenario here is that you're sloshed and won't remember any of this tomorrow, and otherwise you're either grieving or confused.”

“Am not,” Hermione started, and then trailed off as she crossed her arms in protest.

“Not exactly sure I can take you at your word right now, but either way, you're drunk and it wouldn't be right.” Ginny said seriously.

“No, Ginny, you're not lis-” Hermione began before Ginny cut in angrily.

“Look, usually I pay no attention to headlines, but ' _Lesbian Quidditch Player Preys on Dead Brother's Straight Fiance'_ is really not something I ever want to have written about myself.

“You're not taking advantage of me,” Hermione glared. “And I'm not anyone's fiance anymore.” She finished grimly.

“You were last time,” Ginny reminded remorsefully. 

They both looked away and Ginny hung her head.

“Last time wasn't-” Hermione began slowly.

“Get some rest. Please? When you wake up in the morning you'll be glad nothing happened.”

“Don't you dare stand there and tell me how I'll feel, Ginevra.” Hermione frowned irritably.

“Fine, I _strongly anticipate_ you will be glad nothing happened,” Ginny offered.

“You're wrong,” Hermione said sternly, shaking her head. She then let out a large yawn.

“You're drunk, and I'm leaving. Please go to bed.” Ginny said quietly, as she turned and walked towards the door. She had realized the only way to handle that conversation was to end it. Instead of exiting the room she stepped off to the side out of Hermione's vision and then opened and closed the door so that it would sound as though she had actually left.

Ginny waited there for a couple minutes until the sound of Hermione's bed springs squeaking lightly informed her that Hermione had laid down to go to sleep.

_Finally,_ she thought, before silently sending a glass of water and the small brown bottle of Hangover Cure, a household staple of the wizarding world, to Hermione's bedside table. She then realized they never discussed quidditch at the pub as they had intended, and summoned the notebook she had seen Hermione scribbling her notes into earlier at tryouts. She took a peek back over her shoulder to check that Hermione was still in bed and, once verified, left the room as quietly as possible.

_That was way too close of a call,_ Ginny thought wearily as she slunk off down the hall to her own room. Once inside, Ginny changed clothes, washed up, and laid down in bed with Hermione's notes. As she read through and added a couple points of her own she realized that tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.


	5. A Reconciling of Recollections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While reflecting on her 7th year at Hogwarts and the night she shared with Ginny, Hermione discovers a massive misunderstanding exists between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *This chapter got quite long, but hopefully you'll enjoy getting a look into the background of their relationship and how they got to where they are now! Let me know what you think & thanks for reading! :)

**Hermione POV**

Hermione awoke the next morning to a raging headache paired with a blurry recollection of events from the night before. _Whoops,_ she thought, _hadn't meant to get that far out of my head._

She turned over in bed to find a glass of water and a bottle of Hangover Cure by her bedside table and felt the corner of her mouth lift slightly, knowing Ginny must have left them there for her. She gulped down both liquids and closed her eyes for awhile longer.

The Hangover Cure worked wonders, but she was still more groggy and tired than usual. She managed to take a shower and get some clean clothes on, but then needed to sit down and relax, so she curled up with a book. Just as her stomach started to grumble angrily to let her know it was time to eat, she heard a knock on her door.

Hermione waved the door open and saw Ginny standing in the entryway.

“Hey,” Ginny said and then trailed off in a way that suggested she wasn't sure how to proceed.

“Hi,” Hermione greeted, and she squinted a bit as she tried with all her might to recall the details of the night before. She had a strong feeling an apology was in order.

Ginny seemed to receive the confirmation she was looking for by Hermione's uncertainty and continued, “So I'm heading over to Ravenclaw tryouts in a few, but wanted to drop off some breakfast in case you weren't feeling like making an appearance in the Great Hall this morning.”

Hermione smiled as she opened her mouth to thank Ginny, but instead Ginny added, “Oh and one more thing.” Hermione watched as Ginny pulled the notebook containing her quidditch tryout notes from her bag and set it onto the table beside her as she explained, “To help with your decision making, figured McGonagall would be checking in with you first chance she gets. You're instincts aren't bad by the way. You know, for someone who hates quidditch so much.”

Hermione could tell the right play here was to ignore the tail end of the Ginny's comment, and she opted for the gratitude she knew was due in this situation, “You're a saint.”

“Yeah well, I do what I can.” Ginny said with a shrug as she shifted uncomfortably.

“I was a bit pissed last night, wasn't I?” Hermione asked, concerned by Ginny's visible discomfort.

“For the record I _did_ try to warn you about those back-to-back firewhiskies, had a feeling that pub was pouring some pretty strong drinks last night” Ginny half-answered.

“Apparently so. I didn't do anything stupid, did I? Hermione asked and she felt herself grow uneasy as she awaited the reply.

Ginny responded with another question, “About that, and purely out of curiosity, what sort of thing would you classify as stupid?”

Hermione's face instantly fell, “Oh no, what did I do?”

“Nothing, you were fine. For the most part.” Ginny said nervously.

“Ginny?” Hermione pressed.

“It's really nothing.” Ginny said in attempted reassurance, only she was failing miserably at making it actually sound like it was, in fact, nothing.

“You're quite possibly the worst liar in the entire world, just tell me.” Hermione demanded.

“Uh, well, you may have tried to kiss me.” Ginny explained and she became conveniently captivated by the wall on the other side of the room.

“Brilliant,” Hermione sighed. Her face registered alarm as she continued, “And, did we-?”, before she trailed off, unable to complete her own sentence.

Ginny quickly drew her eyes back to Hermione as she confirmed, “Of course not, which you gave me hell for by the way, and then finally you went to bed.”

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as she replied, “Shit. I'm sorry, Gin. I rarely ever drink like that anymore.”

Ginny paused a moment and then said, “It's fine, don't worry about it. People do all sorts of stuff when they're wasted. Besides, pretty sure that was me last time except far worse.”

“What do you mean?” Hermione asked.

“Come on, don't make me say it.” Ginny said and her voice was shaky though her tone had the slightest sound of a scold implying Hermione knew exactly what Ginny was talking about but was pretending not to recall at her expense.

“Are you talking about, _before_?” Hermione sought for clarification.

Ginny only nodded her confirmation.

“What is it you think happened that night?” Hermione asked. She could tell by the look on Ginny's face that she thought Hermione being intentionally cruel with her now, so she quickly cut in before the other woman could speak, “No, seriously, Gin.”

Ginny paused and looked confused. Hermione could see Ginny working to recall anything she could from that night before she admitted, “Can't say I remember all the details. Actually I'm pretty sure I completely blacked out the rest of the evening after Neville convinced me to try that crazy dragonberry shot. Never taking drink recommendations from him again that's for sure.”

She gave the tiniest laugh and it sounded weak and forced. Hermione waited in silence because she hadn't heard what she was looking for yet and knew this was the best way to get Ginny to explain further. Ginny seemed to recognize this tactic, so she looked down and continued, “But based on the fact that I have no recollection of most of the evening and that I woke up in bed with you, I think it's fairly safe to say that I got completely plastered, came onto you when we were both drunk like a massive dickhead, which I swear on my life was never my intention, and completely ruined our friendship.”

“You don't remember,” Hermione concluded, almost inaudibly. Unsurprisingly, Ginny completely missed the comment and concerned look on her face because she continued unfazed.

“I'm really sorry though, Hermione. I've been wanting to tell you that for ages, it just felt like saying something would do more damage than just getting the hell out of your life so you could have the chance to work things out with Ron and be happy. Only then you never got the chance to do that with Ron's accident. I'm so, so sorry for everything. I wish I could go back to that night and not be a complete idiot,” Ginny said in the saddest voice she had ever heard come out of her.

Hermione was growing alarmingly aware of the fact that she needed to reconcile Ginny's recollection of that evening and, though she had no idea where to confidently start, she forced herself to start talking anways. “Ginny, I feel like the complete dickhead, I had no idea you didn't remember that night. You seemed completely with it the entire time. I think you should sit down, because we should really talk about this.”

Before Ginny could reply, her watch suddenly announced, “Ravenclaw tryouts in 15 minutes”.

Ginny sounded avoidant in her reply, “I should get going, I still need to grab the gear out and unlock the pitch. Let me know if you need anything and I'll stop by later.

“Please do,” Hermione implored.

Ginny only raised an eyebrow in response.

“Drop by later. We need to finish this conversation,” Hermione further explained.

“Um, alright, I'll plan to stop by after tryouts I guess, but I really gotta go,” Ginny said and left without waiting for a reply.

Hermione leaned back and hardly heard the door close because her mind was already deep in thought. _How could she not remember? She seemed fine, sure a tiny bit tipsy as we all were, but nowhere near black-out,_ Hermione panicked as she realized this meant they had completely different views on that night, and quite possibly their entire relationship as it currently stood.

Hermione racked her brain in an attempt to see things from Ginny's perspective, to see if there was a sign she had missed that Ginny was out of her head that night. In doing so, she let herself go somewhere she hadn't gone in ages, she went back to the night she did something unforgivable. Except if she were being completely honest with herself, she knew that things had started to happen way before that night. And so she went even deeper into the past in the hope that, by starting at the beginning, she would be able to figure out how they had landed in such disarray and thereby figure out what the hell to do from here to make this right.

**...**

It was during her seventh year at Hogwarts that Hermione had felt the shift begin. Because truly, that's exactly what happened to Hermione, her entire world shifted until the center of it, the anchor connecting her to what her normal was, had completely changed.

It wasn't just because she went back to Hogwarts to complete her final year after the war when Ron and Harry didn't. Admittedly, it hadn't been easy on her, heading back to Hogwarts without them, but she knew it was the right thing for her so the decision itself hadn't been a difficult one to make. She had ridden the train back with Ginny and Luna and even though there had been at least several times she thought passersby had to be Ron and Harry coming back to join them after loading up at the food trolley, things almost felt normal.

After all, she had an extensive plan in place for her future beyond this year, and Harry had even accidentally let it slip that Ron had brought up proposing to her after she graduated. She knew that, while this year away would be difficult, she had a life waiting for her on the other side that she was greatly looking forward to. And while Hermione wouldn't wish it on anyone to miss someone the way she missed Ron, it did provide some comfort knowing that Ginny was missing Harry too.

They had always gotten on and been friends, Hermione and Ginny, but they became steadily closer knowing they could lean on each other when they were lonely and that they were going through the same thing at the same time. They soon became inseparable, and part of this came with the convenience of being in the same level classes this year, and thereby having the same coursework. They ate together and studied together and walked around campus to classes together, and this spilled over into spending most of their spare time together as well. Hermione had eventually realized that she really loved spending time with Ginny and not just in that 'fill the emptiness by having someone around' way or in a way where it somehow made her feel closer to Ron by being around Ginny, though it may have unintentionally started out that way. No, it became clear that she genuinely enjoyed Ginny's company as a stand alone fact. It was something about the way Ginny made her feel, and she didn't quite understand how Ginny seemed to know when to push Hermione, when to support her, when she could give her a hard time just for the fun of it (which quickly became a large portion of the time), and when to go easier for a change.

Several weeks into term and Hermione had realized that her time with Ginny was different than the time she spent with anyone else, including Ron. Ginny seemed to understand her and was able to read her better than anyone she had met before, but it had made sense to her why the relationship would feel different. Ron was her boyfriend and Ginny was just a good friend of course, and certainly her closest friend that was a girl. One wouldn't expect them to be the same or to notice the same things, and so she went on without noticing that her anchor was slowly starting to drift. However, now that she was thinking back, Hermione recalled the first milestone that may have indicated a change was occurring.

**...**

They had been studying for a particularly brutal Potion's exam, brewing side by side in the study lab. After three grueling attempts they had both gotten no further than an E level result, at best, and Hermione was _not_ happy about it. She steadfastly ignored Ginny's suggestion that they call it a day and resume later because, really, did she ever stop working at something until she had perfected it? After yet another attempt with no noticeable improvement Hermione had started to lose it. She cursed vehemently as she instantly reached off to the side to grab an empty vial to begin the process all over again, but her hand returned with only a fistful of air. She frowned and looked around to see what the hell was going on because the tray had been sitting just a bit off to her side last time she checked. She soon realized that almost the entire surface around her, which had been strewn with a wide range of brewing ingredients, containers, and measuring utensils had been completely cleared and cleaned.

Hermione was mere moments away from a full-blown combustion when she heard someone clear their throat from behind her. She whipped herself around and saw Ginny, who she honestly had lost track of almost an hour ago during her last bout of rage and had expected to have left her behind, standing there with her arms crossed and tapping her foot on the ground.

Before Hermione could start laying into the redhead for interrupting her “process”, Ginny threw up a hand and said “Don't you even start, we're done with this for today. Now come with me before you give yourself an aneurysm.” And while an aneurysm could be fixed with a single spell, it was still not exactly a desirable experience. It was just enough to make Hermione pause long enough for Ginny to successfully grab Hermione's hand and lead her out of the room. Ginny had waved her wand behind them to clean and store the remaining few items from Hermione's latest attempt.

Hermione snapped back to her senses and tried to attack, “Ginny what the-”

Ginny seemed prepared for this type of reaction and responded without hesitation, “Nope, I said all done with that for now, remember? It's a beautiful Saturday and we're going to enjoy the rest of it. Or wait, were you having fun in there? Sometimes it's hard for me to tell the difference between fury and enjoyment with you.”

Hermione was suddenly smirking and jabbing right back, “Well at least I'm not so simpleminded that my favorite activity is throwing a ball through a hoop. It's absolutely ridiculous!”

“You're forgetting the part where you're dodging attacks from all angles and, wait there's something else I'm leaving out,” Ginny paused as she pretended to concentrate and then continued as though she remembered a key piece of data, “Oh yeah, the game takes place in the air on a broom. How's your flying again, Hermione?”

And if anyone would have been watching, they might have thought a brawl would ensue from the initial glare Hermione sent towards Ginny, but instead they held eye contact for a few moments before both of them suddenly burst into laughter. After that, they really did forget about their potions problems and spent the rest of the day relaxing down by the Black lake.

They seated themselves against nearby trees along the water with Ginny launching rocks into the lake with the presumed goal of causing as big of splashes as possible and Hermione reading (for fun). Hermione quickly became irritated at the racket Ginny was making, but when she went to yell at her, she found herself smiling instead because it suddenly struck her that if she had been there by herself she would have just ended up wishing that Ginny had been here with her. The fact that she felt that way even knowing it meant Ginny would likely be doing something annoying like throwing rocks in the water while she was trying to read left her nonplussed at first, but then she reached a decision.

Instead of yelling at Ginny to stop right that instant as she had originally intended, she said, “I think you're my best friend,” as though it were an intriguing discovery the world should take note of.

“Had better be with all the bloody attention I give you,” Ginny hadn't skipped a beat. It then seemed like she had registered the seriousness of Hermione's comment and she turned back and smiled at Hermione before she added, “I suppose you're mine too.”

“I think by attention you mean trouble, and for all the _trouble_ you give me I'd better be yours too,” Hermione pointed out.

“You want me to cause you trouble? How about I tell Harry that I'm your new best friend?” Ginny taunted with a mischievous grin.

“You wouldn't!” Hermione warned.

“No, you're right I would never do that.” Ginny agreed.

There was something about how genuine Ginny sounded when she said it and how she hadn't even tried to get the upper hand afterwards that made the moment feel different. They smiled at each other and it was then that Hermione had realized she could safely trust Ginny with the important things in addition to the fun and excitement of their banter. It was a combination she found herself drawn to more and more.

**...**

When the following week Hermione awoke quite startled after a vivid dream of terrible memories from the war, it was Ginny who appeared at her bedside and asked, “Are you okay? You were thrashing around just now.”

Hermione didn't answer in words, but instead instinctively pulled Ginny into bed with her and wrapped Ginny's arm around her. She thought she may have done something wrong at first because she felt Ginny's entire body go rigid behind her as though she didn't want to be close to her like this, but then after a few moments passed Hermione could feel Ginny's body relax and she softly reassured Hermione, “I'm right here.”

It had only been three words, but it was everything Hermione had needed to hear in that moment. Even though the most important person in her life was nowhere near her, she was not alone, not physically and she then realized not emotionally either. That added layer of support from her best friend had her soon soundly asleep.

The following morning, they woke up next to each other for the first time. Hermione had looked over at Ginny in bed beside her and felt shy and uncertain about it, but before the silence could grow uncomfortable Ginny had asked Hermione, “Have you been having nightmares prior to that?”

“Yeah, off and on. They're just so vivid, I wake up feeling like it's happening all over again,” Hermione admitted for the first time.

She had kept it to herself because she didn't want to be weak or a burden to anyone, but then Ginny explained, “Sorry to hear, know those aren't fun. Hate to say it, but if I'm being honest, I still have them every once in awhile. I'll wake up and swear I'm down in the Chamber of Secrets again with no control over my actions. It does get easier over time though, recognizing it isn't real when you wake up and getting back to sleep.”

Hermione's face fell into concern for Ginny, “I didn't realize you- sorry to hear that Ginny.”

“All good,” Ginny assured, “But you can wake me up any time, I get it and would rather you wake me up so I can help than know you didn't get any rest.”

Hermione suddenly didn't feel like a burden, she felt understood and accepted. Hermione did have a few more nightmares that first term, and each time she had climbed into Ginny's bed and pulled her arm around her. Ginny seemed to become used to Hermione coming over from time to time. She would wake up to Hermione getting into her bed and simply ask, “Nightmares?”

Hermione would confirm and it was a friend helping a friend get to sleep. As soon as Ginny had her arm around her she instantly felt safe. There had even been a time or two that she just hadn't been able to fall asleep for the life of her, so she went and lay by Ginny just to feel her warmth. Hermione had told Ginny to follow suit and wake her up if she ever had nightmares of her own, but if she did she never came over to Hermione's bed.

Hermione was now aware of how it felt to be physically close to Ginny and she liked it, plain and simple. It brought safety and it brought warmth and it brought happiness, and Hermione had concluded that that's exactly what friendship should be, so she didn't question it. She partook in the contact no more than a situation reasonably allowed. Still, she kept an eye out for those situations to arise.

**...**

For instance, one day Ginny and Hermione had a spell casting competition to kill time between classes with Luna and her Hufflepuff friend keeping count of who could cast the most spells in two minutes. Ginny was named the winner by three spells, and even though it had been a silly competition and really “did nothing to indicate the overall efficiency of their spells”, Hermione wasn't having it. She instantly began sputtering out every accusation she could think of because she knew that Charms was her strong suit and she had never been bested in an activity of any sort if it involved spells.

Hermione rattled off all of Ginny's indiscretions, “Obviously you chose the shortest spells on purpose and all that excessive wand brandishing certainly deserves a penalty of some sort, not to mention your hands are bigger which is an unfair advantage.”

Hermione had plenty of other reasons (excuses) she was prepared to supply but Ginny quickly cut in, “That's a load of rubbish and you know it, and our hands are probably the exact same size.”

“Simply untrue,” Hermione insisted, and she had grabbed Ginny's hand and held them adjacent to each other to prove it.

Sure enough Ginny's fingers were just a bit longer, and though it had been obvious that the difference wasn't to a degree that would impact spell casting in the slightest, Hermione carried on victoriously and dramatically announced, “See!”.

And Ginny had indeed taken notice, she was staring at their hands pressed together with a perplexed look on her face as though she were feeling something unexpected, and it drew Hermione's attention to the fact that she herself felt something at the contact. She hadn't been able to identify it, but she was curious to figure it out.

After that incident she found herself grabbing Ginny's hand for innocent things like admiring her ring or checking on a scrape from Quidditch practice even if it had already been reduced to an almost unidentifiable line from a Healing spell. Ginny recoiled from the contact at first, but then after Hermione scolded her for being rude and informed that she didn't have an infectious disease, it seemed Ginny became unbothered by it. And why would she be? It didn't mean anything, obviously.

**...**

One Friday as they were walking side by side through the school grounds back towards the Great Hall for dinner, Hermione had taken notice of how beautiful of a day it was. The weather was perfect with the sun out and a gentle breeze, and they were done with classes for the week and Hermione felt compelled to celebrate that glorious feeling in some small way. She had looked over at Ginny which made Ginny look back over at Hermione and she just beamed at Ginny as she watched the way the sun framed her profile and made her hair shine more beautifully than it already did on it's own.

Ginny smiled back and jokingly asked, “Why are you so happy, are you up to something? Wait, should I be concerned?”

Hermione ignored Ginny and just reached over to entwine Ginny's pinkie finger with her own. She then excitedly swung their linked hands back and forth as she listed out their plans for the weekend. Ginny gave her usual reaction of seeming a bit uncomfortable initially, but then laughed and shook her head and just let it happen. She likely already knew that if she tried to resist Hermione would tell her to stop fussing about. Soon the weekend fun list was complete and the emphatic hand swinging had stopped and Ginny had gone to let go of Hermione's pinkie finger as though she had been calculating the correct moment to do so the entire time they had been in contact. However, Hermione kept their pinkies linked by their sides and she had noticed Ginny quickly glance down at their hands in a flash of concern. Before Hermione could even turn her head towards Ginny, she had wiped the look off her face and was staring straight ahead, making no mention of the matter.

They had been walking just about shoulder to shoulder anyways and with their robe sleeves hanging down nobody would likely see, and it made Hermione feel like their friendship was closer than ever in a way that was a secret just for them to know about. Hermione liked sharing that extra layer with Ginny, and while the redhead never initiated it, she seemed to have less and less of a reaction when Hermione would join their pinkies the same way throughout the term. Nobody ever appeared to notice and if they did they were never bothered by it to comment. So really, could it have been a big deal with that being the case? Hermione thought not.

**...**

The holidays happened upon them almost suddenly it seemed, and Hermione couldn't wait to see Ron as it had been a month since their last visit. Most of the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione were gathered at the Burrow as tradition would have it, and it was a strange experience because Hermione felt both exactly where she belonged and somewhat out of place at the same time and she didn't understand why. It was during the second evening while Hermione was sitting with Ron on the sofa by the crackling fireplace with his arm around her when she found herself feeling a little cold. She realized it was an emotional response rather than a physical one, and perhaps this was the moment she was first concerned for her relationship with Ron.

She wasn't repelled by him by any means, but she felt distant from him, which she was only used to feeling when they were actually apart and not when they were sitting so close together. She had been looking forward to spending the holidays together for weeks and she didn't understand why she felt so off. After giving it some thought, she realized it almost felt strange to be so close to Ron and not to Ginny, which of course didn't hold any bearing on her relationship with Ginny because they were just friends. She did however wonder if maybe something were missing from her relationship with Ron. Just as she was about to start into a downward spiral of panic, she had shaken her head at herself and decided that she was being silly.

After all, this was an odd year where her and Ron were in different places in life and it made sense for things to feel a little strange. She reminded herself that everything would fall into place once she had graduated, and she had felt content with that conclusion. Only she couldn't help but to look over her shoulder to where Ginny was sitting with Harry by the Christmas tree, because she wondered if maybe Ginny felt a similar way that she did right now from being away from Harry all this time. The first thing she noticed was Harry's hand on Ginny's knee and as she slowly scanned upwards, she realized that Ginny didn't have her hand anywhere by Harry. She also wasn't leaning in towards him the way that he was leaning into her and she was curious as to whether they had just had a row of some sort.

Further upwards she surveyed until she suddenly felt caught and uncomfortable, because when she reached Ginny's face she realized Ginny was looking directly back at her with a look on her face that Hermione wasn't able to identify. Was she angry? It didn't quite fit the bill, but whatever it was, it unsettled her. She had desperately wanted to look away, but at the same time she wanted to know what Ginny was thinking, so she held Ginny's gaze as she searched for her answer. She saw Ginny's face change, as though maybe she was registering something that Hermione herself wasn't seeing, and then she saw Ginny's hand search and find Harry's as she looked away and joined the conversation being had around her. Hermione quickly faced back towards Ron, who was still plotting with George on how to best mess with Percy when he arrived the next day. She chuckled at the latest suggestion as she leaned into him, resting her cheek against his shoulder.

That night, Hermione joined Ginny in her bed, as she always did when staying at the Burrow, and at first nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But then Hermione noticed that there was more than enough space in this bed for them to easily sleep the whole night through without making any contact and it dawned on her that in fact they never had made contact in this bed before. Suddenly things did feel different because there had been a now noticeable shift since the last time she visited the Burrow. This time, Hermione instinctively pulled Ginny's arm around her as they always did when sharing a bed at school.

Another difference to note was how Ginny stiffened at the contact the way she had the first night when Hermione had pulled Ginny into bed with her at Hogwarts. Except this time rather than relaxing into it and both of them comfortably drifting off to sleep, Ginny had slowly pulled her arm away after a few moments and then turned her back towards Hermione without saying a word. Hermione didn't understand what she had done and lay awake for some time contemplating the possibilities before eventually drifting off to sleep. Hermione had decided she would ask Ginny what was up the next morning, but she had awoken to an empty bed. Come to think of it, she hadn't spent much time around Ginny for the remainder of their stay at the Burrow that holiday. It wasn't something that alarmed her at the time, as Ginny always had made it known what she was up to: flying, practicing quidditch, running errands, helping Molly with chores, visiting neighborhood friends, or hanging out with Harry. But each night, Ginny fell asleep with her back to Hermione.

**...**

It was quite a shock when, halfway through third quarter, Hermione learned that Ginny had suddenly broken up with Harry, because they had seemed to be going strong. Ginny had brought Harry up plenty since the holidays, so it seemed to happen out of nowhere. It was also odd because she heard the news from Ron and not from Ginny even though she had seen Ginny since the breakup had occurred. After finishing the conversation with Ron, she immediately went and found Ginny sitting in the common room and asked, “Gin I just heard about you and Harry, are you okay? What the heck happened?”

Ginny seemed to consider her thoughts briefly before responding, “Just couldn't make it work.” Hermione tried to press further of course, but Ginny wouldn't budge and just repeated her reply of, “Don't worry about it, I'm fine,” to all further questions. And while Ginny didn't really seem “fine”, Hermione didn't know what else to do but drop it. She had sent an owl to check on Harry, who had been as shocked as she was on the topic, so their break-up remained a mystery for the time being. Looking back, Hermione could now safely infer that Ginny had purposefully limited their physical contact around that time even though Ginny had masked it with excuses or the sudden need to runoff and practice quidditch even outside of Gryffindor's scheduled pitch times. At the time, Hermione had simply denied that she even noticed, let alone cared about, the lack of contact between them.

**...**

Before Hermione knew it, third quarter was almost coming to a close, and McGonagall announced at dinner one day that a new tradition was starting at Hogwarts to incorporate the Spring Awakening Ballnow that the Triwizard Tournament and subsequent Yule Ball were off the table. Hermione had repeatedly begged Ginny to go with her as friends, because Ron both couldn't attend due to work but had also made it clear that he “wouldn't be caught dead at a school dance with a bunch of seventh years”. This irked Hermione because it implied that the seventh years, a group which she was effectively a part of even if not in the way Ron had meant it, were less than him. Eventually, Ginny had caved the way Hermione knew she would and the two arranged to meet at the top of the main staircase by the Great Hall that Saturday night.

Hermione had been a few minutes early and was well prepared to tut at Ginny for her tardiness, brief though it was, but she lost the words when she saw Ginny appear before her wearing dress robes rather than a gown. Hermione didn't know what it meant and she didn't know how she felt about it either so she just raised an eyebrow and allowed Ginny to fill in the gap for her, “Tried on every damn dress I own and nothing felt right, so I chucked them all and picked these up last minute. Do you hate them?”

Ginny's voice had sounded delicate as though she were insecure with the decision, and Hermione's immediate instinct was to put her at ease, “Not at all, you look really good, Gin!”

She then allowed herself to fully assess the ensemble since she had been invited to do so and realized that she fully agreed with her statement and wasn't just being polite. They had looked at each other for a couple moments before Hermione jumped right into their usual banter, “Well if you're going to wear those robes like a gentleman seems fitting you should escort me down the stairs and into the ballroom like a gentleman too since I'm the one in these awful heels, don't you think?”

Ginny had dramatically rolled her eyes as she held out her arm so Hermione could loop hers through and retorted, “I guess if I _have_ to, wish I would have known that before I bought these.”

“Oh pipe down over there,” was Hermione's instant reply.

They chuckled and walked down the staircase arm in arm, and it thrilled Hermione in a way. Hermione noticed that she didn't miss Ron that night, which made perfect sense because she knew he thought the whole thing was stupid and would have made sure to remind Hermione of that fact the entire night. She was honestly fairly sure Ginny felt the same way about the dance not being her favorite event, except she didn't throw a fit about it. She even joined Hermione on the dance floor every time she showed excitement about a song that had come on without so much as a single grimace.

And when the first slow song had suddenly started, the two paused and regarded each other with uncertainty for a moment. But then Hermione could have sworn that Ginny had started to extend her hand and was about to open her mouth to ask her to dance and she was sure she would have said yes. Instead, they were rudely interrupted by a sixth year from Ravenclaw who had the audacity to cut right in and ask Ginny to dance while noting to Hermione, “You don't mind, do you? It's just, well you're here as friends, right?”

Hermione had been quick to agree because the question was a stupid one, “Obviously, what else would we be here as?”

And seconds later Ginny was dancing with the other girl, while Hermione sulked at a table. Of course, she later tried to pretend that she hadn't cared at all. She willed herself not to watch, but she couldn't peel her eyes away. Hermione didn't understand what she felt as she watched the two of them dance, but she was certain that this sixth year was both way out of line for interrupting her evening like that and nowhere near good enough for Ginny.

Much to Hermione's dismay, that pesky sixth year started to hang around more and more to the point where Hermione was forced to learn that her name was Lauren. She often pretended not to remember this fact, and Hermione didn't ask Ginny anything about her because she didn't want it to come off that she was the slightest bit bothered by this little bug that would eventually get squashed whether intentionally or accidentally nor that Ginny now had someone else on campus she was so excited to spend time with other than her. Except she was secretly dying to know and constantly wondered what the hell this girl had to offer as a best friend that she didn't.

**...**

It wasn't until a party the following month that Hermione realized what that might be. A large group of students from all four houses were gathered in the Room of Requirement that evening. The party had been dubbed as muggle themed and Hermione had to admit it was quite funny. The muggle born and half-blood students helped pull together all the fun ideas from typical muggle party tradition for the event. There were tacky streamers, banners of all sorts of contradictory messaging, beer pong, pin the tail on the donkey, multiple pinatas, and plenty more.

Hermione had been feeling quite satisfied with herself that evening because she noticed Ginny had been spending most of her time around Hermione even with that stupid sixth year eyeing Ginny the entire time. For some reason it had made her feel like she was winning, even though Ginny's attention wasn't really something she was actively competing for, was it? It was later on in the evening, well after they had busted out the booze someone smuggled in from Hogsmeade, that it happened. They entered into a game of truth or dare at the suggestion from a muggle born boy she didn't recognize. _Typical_ , Hermione thought to herself. However, once the group had heard the premise of the game, everyone was intrigued.

After a few rounds, they were informed by the same boy who had suggested the game in the first place that they were being extremely dull with their choices and needed to step it up for the game to be any fun. Cue the next round, when Lauren answered “Dare,” to her pesky little friend that she had shown up with. Hermione scowled when the friend suddenly dared Lauren to kiss Ginny and it only deepened when the friend had laughed in a knowing way that really irritated Hermione to not be on the inside knowledge of. She saw it, Ginny looking at Lauren apprehensively, nervously even. Ginny hadn't moved a muscle, and Hermione suspected maybe Ginny would refuse, but before she could, Lauren had sprung across the circle and kissed Ginny right on the lips.

Hermione yet again found she couldn't move her eyes from what she was seeing even though half of her was begging to. The kiss continued for several seconds and after Lauren pulled away, she smiled and winked at Ginny as most of the group applauded their successful completion of the dare. Needless to say Hermione did not join in, but instead intently studied Ginny for any sort of reaction that would indicate her thoughts on the matter. She saw a look of Ginny registering something, which reminded her of the face she had seen Ginny make over Christmas break. And while she still wasn't fully sure what it meant, she did finally let herself look away upon making that connection.

**...**

A couple weeks later, the news of Ginny coming out was all over the school, and Hermione couldn't have been more proud of her friend for being so courageous. Most of their peers were exceedingly accepting, or otherwise kept their mouths shut on the matter, which was wise. Hermione had been prepared to have a word with anyone who gave her best friend an issue.

Ginny told Hermione before the news had spread. They were walking around campus together on an overcast Sunday and had paused on the school's wooden bridge, which had been successfully reconstructed after it was destroyed in the war. There was fog rolling off of the sides of solid ground where the rolling hills gave way to a deep valley over which the bridge allowed passage, and it made peering over the edge as they were a bit mysterious. Ginny had been rather quiet that day and seemed deep in thought. So much so that Hermione was about to give Ginny a hard time for only half-listening to her explanation of all the extra points she had earned on their latest Herbology essay, which grades had just been posted on, when Ginny suddenly started in, “Mione?”

“Yeah, Gin?” Hermione asked, intrigued by Ginny's tone, which almost seemed to match the mood cast by their surroundings.

“I've, erhm, I've got something to tell you,” Ginny said uneasily.

“Go ahead,” Hermione encouraged.

“Well, you know Lauren, from Ravenclaw?” Ginny asked slowly.

“You know that I do, what about her?” Hermione kept her tone neutral and it was the best she could manage at the mention of Lauren. She had even resisted the eye roll begging to make an appearance because she could tell Ginny was working through discomfort to tell her something that seemed important.

“So the thing is-” Ginny started and then trailed off back into thought as though still deciding how to proceed.

“Yes?” Hermione urged Ginny to continue.

“Well, I think-” Ginny started and then trailed off yet again.

“Think what, Gin?” Hermione asked and she was trying really hard to not get impatient because the sooner any topic that involved Lauren ended the better.

But when Ginny then opened her mouth and closed it again without making a single sound, Hermione lost it.

“Christ Ginny, if you don't spit it out already I'm going to dive off this bridge and you'll never get the chance,” Hermione demanded.

“I think I like her!” Ginny finally revealed.

“Did you seriously just take fifteen minutes to tell me you made a friend in Ravenclaw? Not sure what the big deal is there anyway, I've gotten better marks than her the entire year I'll have you know,” Hermione could no longer resist the temptation to throw a dig.

“What? No, Hermione, I _like_ her. I'm considering asking her out. What do you think?” There was something about the way Ginny said it that gave the slightest inclination she was asking for Hermione's permission, but that wouldn't make any sense, because clearly Hermione wouldn't have a reason for her not to go for it. She decided Ginny must have wanted to see if Hermione had an issue with her being gay, which of course she didn't. If anything, it helped explain her suddenly breaking up with Harry.

And sure, a part of her felt disappointed because their relationship would likely change a bit if Ginny were to start a relationship with someone on campus, but she would never let that selfishness prevent her from being supportive of her best friend's happiness.

So Ginny asked Lauren out, and they dated for three whole (excruciating) weeks before Ginny informed Hermione of their breakup, “All of a sudden she just said we needed to break up because she apparently, 'Isn't seriously like that' and didn't want people to get the wrong idea about her”.

Half of Hermione was relieved by the news, but the other side of her was furious at that moronic sixth year for not recognizing how amazing Ginny was and giving it a real chance with her.

“Well, _clearly_ , it's her loss, Gin. Told you Ravenclaws aren't always the brightest, especially that particular one. Someone ought to pummel her for being _such_ an idiot!”

And suddenly Hermione was raising herself to her feet as she continued, “In fact-”

Ginny had only grabbed her hand and held her down as she said, “Oh would you relaxyou big brute?”

And Hermione had huffed as she calmed herself.

Ginny threw her a sideways look and then burst out laughing, “Can you imagine, you in a fistfight?”

Seconds later Hermione was laughing too because she would be absolute shite in any sort of physical altercation and she knew it. “You may have actually saved my life just there,” Hermione finally agreed and then the laughing continued.

All that laughter made it take a couple minutes for Hermione to realize that they were still holding hands from when Ginny had pulled Hermione back down. She suddenly became serious as she said, “I'm sorry she hurt you like that.”

“That's okay, I didn't like her as much as I thought I did anyways,” Ginny replied, and it seemed like she had decided on it in that exact moment.

They sat side by side in comfortable silence for awhile before Ginny added, “Don't you go leaving me like that though, I'm not sure I could bear it.”

Hermione ran her thumb along Ginny's hand, which she continued to hold as she promised, “I won't.”

And that was when Hermione thought that maybe, just maybe, their relationship became a bit hazy.

**...**

It certainly didn't help the way Luna always seemed to look at the two of them with a sparkle in her eye. Though she could never tell for absolute certain as Luna was known to often have a twinkle in her eye and not always for a logical reason. But then she went as far as to ask if they wanted to do a “double date” during the year's final trip to Hogsmeade with her and Jonathan, the cute Ravenclaw boy Luna dated for most of seventh year. The two of them started talking when he happened upon and returned some of Luna's belongings that had been hidden by their classmates. He had taken it a step further to tell everyone he and Luna were friends, and his popularity instantly won Luna some relief from the harassment she had grown used to. Not long after, they realized they were a really good fit and started dating.

And while the thought of Luna and Jonathan on a date sounded adorable, the mention of Ginny and Hermione joining them on a double date infuriated her and she accidentally snapped, “Well obviously we won't be going on a double date with you Luna. If you recall, I'm dating Ron, so I would hardly be dating Ginny. Bit of a dense thing to suggest, don't you think?”

“I only meant you could join us as friends, the more the merrier” Luna replied pleasantly with an innocent smile that made Hermione instantly go red as she apologized profusely and blamed N.E.W.T. stress for her agitated state.

She was unable to read the look on Ginny's face when she finally did dare to glance over to her, but it felt almost as though she were being surveyed even while not being asked a question. They decided to join after all partially because Hermione felt the need to make it up to her friend after being a total arse but also because they both needed a break from studying.

The weekend came and the four of them made their way to the Three Broomsticks for some food and Butterbeers. Luna and Jonathan took one side of the booth they were seated at and Hermione and Ginny filled the opposite side. It was different, seeing Luna getting attention from a suitor like this. Hermione decided it was cute, Luna being doted on like that, but for some reason it also made her stomach uneasy in that particular moment.

She took a heavy swig of her Butterbeer with her right hand to distract herself from the repeated displays of affection occurring on the opposite side of the table as her left hand fell onto the booth beside her. She felt her hand brush against something in it's descent, and then suddenly felt a sprinkle of cold liquid on her arm. A glance to her left informed her that she had accidentally brushed Ginny's hand with her own, which had startled the redhead and caused her to emit a small spray of Butterbeer in Hermione's direction. “Oh my, I'm so sorry Hermione,” Ginny looked mortified as she quickly moved to wipe Hermione's hand with her napkin. She eased into a shy smile when she realized Hermione was only laughing at the matter. Luna and Jonathan joined in, and soon Ginny had little choice but to laugh at her blunder as well.

About a half hour later when Luna and Jonathan went to say hi to a few friends they spotted across the bar, Hermione used the opportunity to playfully poke at Ginny's hand with her left index finger as she said “Didn't mean to startle you before, I guess quidditch reflexes are a real thing, huh?”

Ginny went bright red and replied “Shut it Mione or you'll put me in a fowl mood and ruin a lovely afternoon.”

And while Hermione could tell that Ginny was kidding, she responded in the most serious tone she could muster, “Well I simply wouldn't be able to live with myself if that were to happen,” as she continued to repeatedly prod the outside of Ginny's hand with her finger. It was less of a conscious decision and more like her hand was acting of its own accord.

Finally, Ginny threw an irritated look at Hermione and growled, “Can I help you with something?” as she opened her right palm up to gesture at Hermione's attacking appendage.

At hearing Ginny's tone, she knew she had better cut it out, and she immediately stopped after the poke in process had landed on target. Instead, she kept her finger touching Ginny's hand afterwards, as though it had suddenly adhered itself.

She responded, “Yes,” in a matter-of-fact tone and used the opportunity to transition to running her finger up and down the nearest side of Ginny's hand.

Ginny seemed to take a staggered inhale of air at the contact and then anxiously questioned, “W-What do you want, then?”

Hermione didn't dare dwell on the multiple levels to which the question could be applied, whether it was intended to or not. She did, however, note that the air around her started to feel like it was charged, and she herself became warm. The two of them had locked eyes and Hermione became transfixed as she studied the way Ginny's pupils had started to slightly dilate. All the while Hermione continued to lightly trace Ginny's hand with her finger.

Part of her thought she should probably look away, but curiosity held her gaze in place. She suddenly realized she had never answered Ginny's question so she simply responded, “Attention,” because she couldn't confidently get out any more words without her voice sounding breathy and exposing how fast her pulse was racing. She had done her best to exude nonchalance, but she wasn't sure if she had fooled anyone into thinking she was just messing about, including herself.

Hermione could tell Ginny was lost for words and it oddly made her want to continue on to see how Ginny would react. She intently watched Ginny as she slowly pulled the redhead's hand into her own and laced their fingers together. She saw the way that Ginny's eyes had darted down towards their hands before she let out a nervous laugh and her eyes found Hermione's again, causing the charge Hermione felt to intensify.

While they had held hands before, this time felt like something brand new. And though it shouldn't have been a big deal at all for two best friends to hold hands, they immediately tore them apart when Luna returned to the table, which she thankfully didn't notice. Unfortunately, she did mention that the two of them really should cast a sun protection charm now that the days were getting so nice as it appeared they had quite a sunburn setting in. Hermione looked down as she felt herself go at least two shades redder as they both seemed to scramble. Ginny won out and quickly assured Luna it must just be the lantern lighting. Luna seemed to accept this with a polite smile much to Hermione's relief.

That night Hermione lay awake in bed as her mind raced. She no longer dared to get into Ginny's bed as she would have previously on a night like this, and Hermione had her suspicions doing so would only make things worse anyways. Hermione suddenly felt like an earthquake had occurred without her noticing because everything was out of place. Her conversations with Ron had turned more into an item to check off of her to-do list than something she earnestly looked forward to the way she had at the start of the year. And Ginny went from her boyfriend's sister to some sort of drug to which Hermione was dismally addicted to. She almost let it terrify her until she reminded herself that the school year was almost done and then everything would go back to normal. She spent the rest of the night picturing her future with Ron, and she could see it clearly if she focused hard enough.

…

Hermione counted down the remaining moments of the Quidditch Cup championship match, and when the final whistle blew and Luna excitedly announced Gryffindor's victory over Hufflepuff to all in attendance, the entire stadium around her erupted. Hermione battled her way through the crowd to congratulate Ginny, who had played an amazing game. Upon spotting her, Ginny tore away from a teammate and gave Hermione a huge hug, and for some reason Hermione had immediately gotten lost in it. She had kept her distance from Ginny physically after their trip to Hogsmeade, and Ginny held true to her MO and hadn't initiated any contact between them either.

So maybe it was that time without physical contact between them which made Hermione react to Ginny's embrace so strongly. They held each other for several seconds during which Hermione had whispered in Ginny's ear, “Great game, Gin,” and Ginny had seemed to shiver even though Hermione could feel how warm she still was from the exertion that went into playing a tough game **.**

Slowly, they had started to pull back, but their faces remained close due to the limited space the cheering crowd afforded them. Ginny's arms hung loosely around Hermione's hips with Hermione's hands holding onto the outside of Ginny's arms as though the hug hadn't fully ended. Hermione kept her eyes locked onto Ginny's as Ginny replied with a smile, “Thanks for being here.”

“Of course I'm here!” Hermione exclaimed, “Will you be in the common room to celebrate? Sounded like everyone is heading there soon.”

“Maybe a bit later, there's actually some scouts here I'm meeting once I get cleaned up,” Ginny said.

Hermione had never been more excited by quidditch related news, “I'm really proud of you, Gin.”

“I know,” Ginny said shyly.

“Good,” Hermione said pointedly, but then broke out into a knowing grin.

“Great,” Ginny said as she flashed a smile to match Hermione's.

Hermione had truly been so overcome with pride and happiness that she almost felt the need to express it further, as though words and a hug weren't enough. She didn't know what that would entail and she didn't get the chance to think on it before Ginny was snatched away by her teammates to do a victory lap around the stadium.

But as she lay awake in bed that night, which became a disturbing theme in her life towards the end of the school year, Hermione couldn't help but wonder how maybe, in a different life, and if Ginny hadn't been pulled away by her teammates, Hermione might have kissed Ginny at that moment during which she had searched for a way to further express her happiness to Ginny.

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind, and far before she had allowed herself to think about what kissing Ginny would mean or what it might feel like, she had propelled herself upright in bed, tossed herself onto the cold stone floor, and raced out of her dorm room without so much as a glance at Ginny's bed as she exited.

As she curled up on the cushy couch in the Gryffindor common room, where quidditch celebrations were still evidenced by empty bottles of alcohol scattered about, Hermione realized she was scared. She was scared of what she felt, she was scared of what came next after this year ended, and she was scared both for if things were to go back to the way they were before seventh year or if they stayed the way they are now. And while Hermione had leaned on Ginny for the entire year, this time she didn't feel like she could go to her best friend about it. This time she felt alone.

**...**

Thankfully, N.E.W.T.s provided a great distracter from addressing whatever was (not) going on with her and Ginny. Hermione dug in the way she always did and threw herself into learning. She had come way too far to lose sight of her goals. A well-timed appointment with Headmaster McGonagall outlining the remaining steps of her advanced studies application and the timeline of her potential return to Hogwarts as a professor certainly helped her rein it in.

Also of help was how busy Ginny was in her own right. Ginny had received offers from multiple professional quidditch scouts, and spent the last couple weekends of the year visiting various training facilities to meet the teams she had offers with.

Much of their limited interaction began to revolve around their respective future plans and it furthered Hermione's conclusion that this year was nothing more than a strange blip and everything would become clear once she graduated.

Considering the level of inner turmoil Hermione had been experiencing leading up to her exams, Hermione was content to finish the year out strong with all O's other than one E on her N.E.W.T.s. Her application had been accepted at London's finest advanced studies institution and she was focusing with all her might on the fact that she would soon be getting a place with Ron as they had always planned now that they would finally be in the same city soon.

**…**

It was Ginny's last day on campus, as she was leaving early to start training for her first season of professional quidditch with the team she decided to sign her contract with, the Holyhead Harpies. Hermione and Ginny were spending their last few hours together relaxing at their favorite spot by the Black Lake. The same spot, as it happened, where Hermione had first told Ginny that she was her best friend. As Hermione recalled that fact she felt like this exact location had taken them full circle, because now they were here and it felt like this was the last moment they would spend together before growing apart whereas when they had first been here earlier in the year it felt like the moment they spent together before growing extremely close.

And it saddened Hermione to think about it like that.

“I'm going to miss you,” Hermione said in a way where her thoughts had only just transitioned into actual words.  
  
“You know that I'll see you again after we graduate, right?” Ginny teased.

“I know, but it won't be the same, will it?” Hermione pointed out.

“Suppose not,” Ginny agreed, and Hermione thought maybe she heard Ginny's voice crack the slightest bit as she said it. But then Ginny had paused and brightened considerably as she continued, “But it will be good. You'll start your advanced studies and finally be close to Ron again, and I'm glad you'll have the things you want.”

Only Hermione didn't know what she wanted anymore, but she hoped more than ever that things would fall into place if she moved forward with the plan she made going into the school year. She shook the thought and agreed, “Yeah. Yeah, you're right. It will be great. And you'll be a professional quidditch player, which is so bloody brilliant.”

“Ah well, it's just a matter of throwing a ball through a hoop really,” Ginny shrugged.

“It's much more than that and you know it,” Hermione had scolded as she launched a rock into the water.

**…**

Hermione hugged Ron tightly when she first returned from Hogwarts. She had felt so thankful to have him, and only partially because she was certain that the emptiness she felt of not having Ginny around anymore would have been crippling to face alone.

Hermione stayed with Ron at his apartment in London, and they planned to get a bigger place together the following month when his lease was up. Hermione soon noticed that Ron had taken the initiative to put together a list of housing options in the areas he thought they might like, and Hermione found herself becoming quite excited about getting an apartment together. She noticed that Ron had grown-up significantly over the last year and she really respected how hard he worked as an Auror.

And yes, she still missed Ginny terribly, but it was normal to miss your best friend, especially after seeing each other every day for the better part of a year. She figured she was still adjusting and that things would continue to get easier over time. Besides, she had so much to look forward to. Before she knew it she'd be selecting her curriculum and purchasing supplies for the first term of her Advanced Magical Education degree, and the thought of it alone put a smile on her face.

Her and Ron had selected a perfect first apartment together, and he had even surprised her with a lovely trip he had planned for them to celebrate Hermione's graduation during the last week of July. The weather had been perfect and the scenery had been gorgeous, and Hermione knew that she was lucky to have someone like Ron. She simply couldn't imagine her life without him. So when, on the last day of their trip he asked her to marry him, she had said yes after only the slightest hesitation. That's what she decided she wanted in life, so why should they wait after everything they'd already been through?

Ginny had sent a congratulatory owl when she learned of Ron and Hermione's engagement, but Hermione hadn't known what to write back, so she didn't.

...

Five months later and Hermione had several answers to her earlier question of why they should have waited to get engaged, and she wished she would have realized sooner that love isn't something you can just decide and then check off of your goals list. Ron and Hermione were arguing about things more and more. Ron was quite sick of the fact that Hermione was still completely engrossed in her studies all the damn time, which she could understand and saw the strain it caused on their relationship. Between Ron's periodic travel for work and Hermione's rigorous coursework, they were really lacking in the quality time department. And while she loved Ron and knew she always would, she just wasn't sure if she saw the future anymore the way she always had thought she did.

They had an especially bad row in December, during which she had mentioned that maybe they had rushed things getting engaged so soon, which only further infuriated Ron. As a result, she gave Ron some space and had spent most of the Christmas holiday with her parents that year. Hermione was informed that Ginny wasn't around the one night she had made it over to the Burrow for dinner. So while Hermione had watched nearly every Holyhead Harpies match that summer for the few times Ginny was subbed in during her first season, she hadn't seen Ginny in person for over six months.

**…**

Hermione shouldn't have been nearly as surprised as she felt when Ginny walked through the front door of Brewer Buddies in London that New Year's Eve. After all, Luna, Jonathan, Neville, Dean, Seamus, and the Patel twins were Ginny's friends too. And just because Harry and Ron couldn't make it out because they were out of country on secret Auror business, didn't mean Ginny wouldn't attend. It's just that Hermione had assumed Ginny would have bigger plans now that she was becoming more and more well-known from her quidditch career. Even as she took her first few steps through the pub's entrance, Hermione saw someone recognize Ginny and excitedly point her out to their companions.

Ginny, for her part, seemed not to notice and simply scanned the building for her friends. Hermione instantly looked away for a reason she didn't understand in the slightest because she was obviously excited to see her friend. Moments later Ginny was at their table and, being in the end seat, Hermione was the first person Ginny spotted. As her eyes landed on Hermione, Ginny seemed to mirror Hermione's surprise at seeing her for a fraction of a second before breaking out into a wide smile and wrapping her in a quick hug, “Hermione! I didn't realize you would be here. Thought you were with your parents this holiday.”

She said it in a way that didn't imply any negative connotation to the fact that Hermione wasn't around the Burrow as much as she usually was this time of year, so thankfully Ron must not have ranted on about her too much. Well, not to Ginny anyways.

“Hey,” Hermione said lamely, a more sophisticated greeting eluding her.

Ginny suddenly seemed to remember something and excitedly continued, “Oh, congratulations on your engagement. Wow, I can't believe this is the first time I'm seeing you since graduating.”

“I know, it's crazy how fast time has flown by,” Hermione replied. Except time apart from Ginny hadn't flown by, and it hadn't ever gotten easy being away. Easier, sure, but never easy.

“Yeah,” Ginny agreed, but Hermione couldn't read her tone.

“Neville!” Ginny suddenly exclaimed as he pulled Ginny into a hug. And then Ginny had given all the others hugs and was eventually seated at the far end of the table.

Hermione suddenly felt Luna watching her from across the table, so she quickly averted her gaze from Ginny and asked Luna how she liked working in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Creatures so far and they soon landed into comfortable conversation.

Not long after, Neville had excitedly insisted on getting Ginny a drink and it drew the attention from the entire table. Neville turned and announced to the group that Ginny would be a starting Chaser for her second season with the Holyhead Harpies. Ginny tried to downplay it all and said she had gotten lucky that the coach took notice of her at the right times, but Neville shushed her and pulled Ginny towards the bar. When they returned, Ginny was carrying a pinkish-red shot in a clear shot glass that was lightly smoking from the top. “To Ginny!” Neville toasted. “To Ginny!” the table repeated as they lifted their current beverages in unison and all took a swig while Ginny, after giving it a suspicious glance, took her shot.

The group decided to hop from bar to bar around London and Hermione hadn't gotten much of a chance to talk to Ginny yet. She found herself experiencing the emotionally distant while physically present feeling she had while visiting Ron in the later parts of her seventh year at Hogwarts. Hermione realized she was completely on the outside of Ginny's life now, and it made her feel hollow inside. Hermione was suddenly frustrated with Ginny for being away all this time. Yes, she had been extremely busy and traveling constantly for her quidditch season, and then most likely endlessly training afterwards to earn a starting position going into only her second pro season, but it hurt Hermione not to know about Ginny's life anymore.

For lack of another way to handle it, she decided to be angry at Ginny. So even though Hermione could tell that Ginny was constantly being quizzed and pulled away by the other members of the group and wasn't actively avoiding her, she still concluded, _Fine, if she's perfectly content to not be in each other's lives anymore, then so am I. If she wants to just talk to other people the whole night, that's fine too._

So she ignored Ginny completely, and talked with whoever wasn't currently crowded around the redhead acting like she were a precious trophy. While Hermione was able to enjoy the company of her friends that night, she really didn't feel much like celebrating anymore after an hour or so. She had wandered off to the bar to get some water and was thinking about sneaking out and heading back home. Just as she thought she might turn to leave, she had looked up from her glass and made eye contact with Ginny, who gave her a small smile as Neville continued to brag about her accomplishments to complete strangers as he proudly patted her on the back. Hermione felt frozen as she watched Ginny politely excuse herself and duck out of sight. A moment later, Hermione realized that Ginny was making her way over to her, and she instantly felt her stomach clench.

“How's it going?” Ginny asked tentatively.

“Thinking of leaving soon to be honest.” Hermione replied somewhat irritably.

“Yeah, same here,” Ginny agreed before going quiet and looking over her shoulder at the rest of their group for a brief moment.

“You mean you're not having fun being obsessed over?” Hermione asked, and it accidentally came out rudely when she had meant for it to sound at least somewhat like a tease.

Ginny paused and furrowed her brow at Hermione, “They're just being supportive and sweet, but no actually I don't really find it fun to be the center of attention like that.”

“Sorry, I'm being awful, I think I'm just over the bar scene for tonight. I'm actually going to head out.” Hermione took a large gulp of water and set her glass down as she continued, “Good to see you, Gin. Take care.” And Hermione had paused for the slightest moment to give Ginny the opportunity to say something, anything. But Ginny just stood there with a blank look on her face like something had suddenly come over her. Unsure of what to make of it, Hermione quickly turned and started to leave. However, just as she reached the exit, Ginny had caught her arm and lightly spun her back towards her.

“I'd really love to hear about your studies and how everything is going for you, just maybe somewhere quieter?” Ginny offered. Hermione noticed that whatever look had been on Ginny's face was gone, and she was now fully present and confident as she spoke.

“Yeah, okay. That sounds nice.” Hermione replied, and it was what she had wanted Ginny to say to her all night, but now that she had actually heard it she felt herself get a little nervous.

“Where would you like to go? I'm not very good on the scene here with all the traveling we do, so we can go wherever you want,” Ginny said.

“Everywhere will probably be insane because of New Year's Eve and all,” Hermione concluded.

“Right, yeah. Well would you want to come by mine?” Ginny asked and she wasn't at all fazed to suggest it even though it made Hermione's stomach flip for some reason.

“Ehrm, sure, don't know where else to go right now, so that works.” Hermione replied a little shakily.

Ginny nodded and grabbed the door, holding it open for Hermione as they stepped outside together.

“Good?” Ginny asked to make sure Hermione was ready.

“Great.” Hermione confirmed, and they smiled at each other as Ginny held her arm and side-along apparated them to her flat.

She surveyed Ginny's place curiously and then looked out the large full wall window. The sky was clear and the moon bright, and Hermione could see the outline of rolling hills creating a scenic skyline.

“Where are we?” Hermione asked.

“Cotswolds,” Ginny said with a smile, "Nice to come home to a quiet place after all of the hectic traveling. A few of us from the team live around here actually.”

“Good choice,” Hermione concluded. “Congratulations, by the way, on making the starting line-up. That's amazing.”

“Thanks, yeah I'm excited about it. Just hope I don't mess it up,” Ginny said and her voice sounded insecure.

“You won't,” Hermione assured her, and it felt good that Ginny was being open with her when she had put on such a confident face earlier in the evening with everyone else around. Maybe they hadn't grown completely distant after all.

“How are you liking your coursework? Top of your class yet?” Ginny asked.

“Oh come off it, Gin. But yes, actually, and I love the coursework. Definitely challenging, but I know it will be worth it when I become a professor some day,” Hermione replied.

“You'll be an amazing professor,” Ginny complimented.

“You think so?” Hermione asked, and she greatly valued Ginny's opinion on the matter.

“I know so.” Ginny sounded certain.

“Thanks, Gin,” Hermione smiled.

“I've missed you terribly, you know.” Ginny said suddenly, solemnly.

“Me too,” Hermione agreed, glad that she wasn't the only one gutted by the distance between them. She then realized her surprise and asked, “Wait, really?”

“More than anything or anyone I've missed before.” Ginny said and Hermione could tell by the tone Ginny was being honest and serious. In fact, it was the most serious they had ever spoken about their feelings for each other and it made Hermione anxious but excited at the same time.

“I just thought that with you being so busy and basically famous and all-” Hermione started before Ginny cut in.

“I don't give a damn about being famous, fame doesn't mean a thing.” Ginny said as though it were the simplest fact of life.

“Yeah? And what does?” Hermione couldn't help but ask. Ginny was being open with her and she wanted to know, she had _long_ wanted to know, how Ginny felt about, well about everything really.

“Love of course, it's one of the few things that actually do matter. You know that, Mione,” Ginny reminded.

“Do I?” Hermione asked. She grew nervous that maybe Ginny were hinting at something between them, so she held her breath waiting for Ginny to speak again.

“Course you do, you're engaged,” Ginny said lightly.

Something about Ginny speaking so freely made Hermione respond before thinking, “I'm not sure I do though, that's the problem. I don't know what I know anymore.”

Ginny seemed to respond just as impetuously, “I can understand that. I've wondered more times than I can count what could have happened between you and I. If you had been in my year all along, if I had been able to ask you first. But that would be dependent on me being your type in the first place, which obviously isn't the case. Point being, it's easy, albeit dangerous, to get caught up in what you think you know or what could have been. I think love just happens and sometimes you get lucky and it works out.”

Hermione's jaw almost hit the floor both at what Ginny had said and how casually she had said it and Hermione had to ask for clarification, “Ginny what are you saying to me right now? Ask me what first?”

Ginny replied again without an ounce of the hesitation she exuded their entire seventh year at Hogwarts, “I'm saying that I love you, surely you know that by now. I love you with every ounce of my heart and my mind and my soul. And as selfish and wrong as I know this is to say, deep down I wish I could have asked you out first and that you would have said yes so that we could have been together, so that we could still be together.” Ginny paused for just a moment, before she continued on just as evenly, “But you know that I really am happy for you that you found love with Ron. And I'm sorry for being a terrible person and feeling the way I do for you because I truly tried not to. I know I'll find love someday too, I just have to be-”

Ginny couldn't finish her sentence because Hermione had kissed her. She hadn't meant to, it hadn't even felt like a choice at all, but simply a need. Hermione had been thinking the complete opposite way for months. She had been trying incessantly _to_ feel that way for Ron because she wanted to feel that way for him, but it simply wasn't enough.

She had lost herself in the feeling of needing to express something to Ginny that went beyond words the same way she had after Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup match. Only Ginny didn't get pulled away by anyone this time, and Hermione didn't second guess herself this time either. Hermione didn't run away from the thought that maybe she would have wanted to kiss Ginny back at that moment. Instead, she did kiss Ginny when she felt it. She kissed her for several seconds, the way she had seen Lauren kiss Ginny at the muggle themed party back at Hogwarts. And then she slowly pulled back to gauge Ginny's reaction.

“What are you-” Ginny started to ask.

“I love you too,” Hermione cut in.

“No you love Ron, you're engaged.” Ginny reminded collectedly, confidently, as though the words coming out of her mouth were 'two plus two equals four'.

“I am engaged to Ron, but I'm in love with _you_ , Ginny. I've got to end things with Ron now that I know that for sure,” Hermione concluded.

“You're serious?” Ginny asked. And her voice was somehow bordering tranquil, almost like nothing Hermione could say would shake Ginny, and it unsettled her further. For some reason, it made Hermione want to test the waters, because the Ginny she knew was bound to clam up and pull back any moment.

“I'm seriously going to kiss you again unless you tell me you don't want me to” Hermione suddenly said.

“I'd be lying if I said it.” Ginny informed, her tone as even and unfazed as ever. And something about it made everything feel right in that moment. As shocked as she was by the way this was playing out, Hermione stopped fighting what she knew she wanted deep down and leaned in to kiss Ginny again.

She ran her hand up Ginny's side and watched as Ginny trembled slightly at the touch. For a second she thought for sure this was the moment of Ginny recoiling at her touch the way she always had in the past, but Ginny stayed close and present. She looked right into her eyes and smiled and Hermione almost thought she must be dreaming. A quick pinch test confirmed she was awake and at that realization Hermione knew that this was it, this was happening. She dropped whatever last remaining defense stood and Hermione kissed Ginny, really kissed her.

It started slowly, because even if it had been subconsciously, Hermione knew she had been waiting for this moment for a long time and didn't want to rush it. But after a few moments Hermione still wasn't fully satisfied. She took matters into her own hands and deepened the kiss as her desire rose. The need to express how she felt for Ginny grew and grew and she let it guide her forward. Finally she leaned back a bit to lock eyes with Ginny and she asked, “May I?” as she lightly pulled at the bottom corner of Ginny's shirt.

Ginny responded “Please do,” and Hermione noticed Ginny's pupils were dilated the same way they had during their last school trip to Hogsmeade. Except Ginny wasn't avoiding or running away or making an excuse to stop or masking her longing in any way. Hermione felt closer to Ginny than ever before as each article of clothing was slowly removed one by one and tossed aside. Hermione backed Ginny into her bedroom as they undressed until she felt the bed hit the back of Ginny's knees, which landed Ginny into a seated position with Hermione climbing up on top of her.

Suddenly it hit Hermione that she was completely naked and kneeling over Ginny in her bed, which felt like something that could only happen in an alternate universe, except it wasn't an alternate universe, it was happening right there and then. And she couldn't stop from exploring Ginny's body because still she wanted more. Except she shyly admitted, “I'm not one hundred percent sure what to do, with a woman.”

“Would you like me to show you?” Ginny had asked, her tone level, calm. Still so sexily calm.

“More than anything,” Hermione replied. She knew she sounded anything but collected at this point, but she didn't care and Ginny hadn't seemed to notice.

They traded places, with Hermione on her back and Ginny hovering over her, and then she felt Ginny touch her for the first time: lightly, yet purposefully. Hermione felt Ginny's hand glide smoothly across her, indicating she had become quite wet from her encounter with Ginny thus far. Ginny slowly began to move her hand in light circles and it drew a response from deep within Hermione. The light touching created a longing so intense it could be better called a throbbing.

“Do you like that?” Ginny asked as she looked into Hermione's eyes. And while Hermione knew that Ginny meant it to make sure Hermione felt safe and was okay with everything happening, it was the sexiest thing she had ever heard. Hermione wondered for a second how Ginny was staying so put together in this situation when she felt like she was completely unraveling, but figured it must just come with experience **.**

“Yes, yes I do, Ginny” Hermione had panted as Ginny began to apply more pressure and slowly increase the speed of the circular pattern she was tracing. She hadn't realized there had been this much sexual desire involved with the attraction she felt to Ginny, and she moaned at the discovery of the immense pleasure she felt from Ginny attending to her growing need.

And then Ginny had whispered, “You're so wet,” as though she were in awe and had never expected them to have landed here and be doing this. Ginny adjusted from the circles she had been tracing to slowly moving further in towards Hermione's core. She paused and waited for Hermione's nod of approval before entering her. There was something about Ginny filling her up that made Hermione feel complete in a way she hadn't experienced before. Sharing this part of herself with Ginny was different, special.

It reminded her of the first time they held pinkies when it had been a new level of their relationship that was something secret and just for the two of them. Only this felt so, so much better. And Hermione had to grab a pillow to muffle her moans as Ginny began to move a finger in and out of her, slowly and steadily. After a couple minutes, Hermione desperately wanted Ginny to take things further still.

“More please, Ginny” she had begged before covering her mouth with the pillow again. And she didn't even fully know what more would be, but Ginny seemed to and immediately went to work. Soon Hermione felt herself slightly widening as Ginny added another finger.

Hermione loved the way that Ginny slid in and out so smoothly, and she loved being so wet for Ginny, as though it were a sign of her gratitude for how fucking good Ginny was making her feel. She loved the additional width and friction she felt within her, but still she wanted more, so she began lightly thrusting her hips into Ginny's hand to match the pace of Ginny's fingers as they entered her. That was when she heard Ginny moan softly when she hadn't even laid a finger on her yet, and she loved the fact that she was having this effect on Ginny all while Ginny was having such an immense effect on her.

Ginny then paused as she gently lifted the pillow off of Hermione's face and said, “I want to see you, if that's okay?” and Hermione could only gasp at how sexy Ginny sounded when she said it. Upon not receiving any argument from Hermione, Ginny smiled, tossed the pillow on the floor and went back to work. Ginny increased the intensity she applied while Hermione continued to work her body right back into Ginny's hand. Hermione noticed a steady climb of pleasure as the movement hit both her internal and external points of stimulation.

She increased the pace of her movements and Ginny matched. A couple minutes later, as though she could read Hermione's mind, Ginny asked, “Are you getting close?” She wasn't rushing her, she wasn't concerned, she just wanted to know. And it was hot as hell.

Hermione nodded in the affirmative and said between choppy breaths, “I'm getting so close for you, Gin.”

Ginny kept right at it, holding pace and pressure steady and allowing Hermione's intensity to climb of seemingly it's own accord until it was about to reach it's peak and Hermione said, “Fuck Ginny, I'm going to come.”

Ginny wrapped her free arm around Hermione's waist to secure her in place and moments later Hermione had the best, most intense orgasm of her life, to date. Ginny left her fingers inside Hermione the whole time she came and only when Hermione had stilled, nodded, and said “Okay,” did she remove them. Ginny then took a taste of Hermione by licking along the index finger that had just been inside her while looking right at Hermione. This caused Hermione to instantly develop a new need, a need to have her way with the gorgeous, sexy redhead before her. A need to make Ginny feel as good as Ginny had just made her feel. So she did.

And afterwards, they lay lazily together in bed with Ginny's arm around Hermione and Hermione turned in towards Ginny with her head resting on Ginny's shoulder.

Ginny kissed Hermione's forehead and said, “This entire night has been like a dream to me.”

Hermione agreed, “The best dream I've ever had.”

“Same,” Ginny confirmed, and Hermione could feel Ginny smile against her forehead, which made her smile even wider than she already was.

That night they fell asleep in each other's arms in a whole new way.

**...**

But, then they woke up.

“Oh Christ, what the fuck did I do?” Ginny's voice rang out in alarm.

Hermione awoke with a start, “What's wrong?”

Ginny ripped a sheet off the bed and covered herself as she dove away from Hermione with a terrified look on her face. She gestured urgently between them as she replied, “What's wrong? Look around. I, We- I'm going to be sick.” Ginny turned and ran off to the bathroom, and Hermione was dumbfounded by Ginny's behavior.

Hermione threw on her clothes and was about to check on Ginny when the redhead came back into view, now fully clothed herself.

“You should go,” Ginny said grimly.

“Ginny, I think we should talk,” Hermione said, clearly missing something as to why Ginny was responding this way.

“There's nothing to talk about. You're marrying my brother, Hermione, now please get out,” Ginny's tone was fierce and angry and Hermione didn't understand the contrast it carried to the prior night.

Because, yes, last night was wrong, and it shouldn't have happened until she had fully ended things with Ron, and in that regard it had been an error in her judgment that she felt terrible about. Yet Hermione knew in her heart that what she had shared with Ginny wasn't a mistake, only the timing of it was. They had each said they were in love with the other, and that hadn't changed for her overnight. Apparently Ginny disagreed. Hermione's hesitation pushed Ginny to walk right past her and Hermione followed Ginny out of her bedroom and towards the front door, “Where are you going, Gin?”

Ginny turned from the front door she had just opened and sighed, “Look, you can take your time. I just can't be here right now. Let yourself out when you're ready.”

Hermione called out, “Ginny, wait,” but Ginny had already let the door close behind her and apparated out of sight.

…

Hermione resurfaced from her memories, and concluded that all of this boiled down to so many unspoken words between Ginny and herself as well as a massive misunderstanding. And yes, some words had in fact been exchanged, but Ginny seemed to have literally no memory of the conversation, so that hardly counted. But then Hermione suddenly recalled Ginny's statement from earlier, “I'm pretty sure I completely blacked out the rest of the evening after Neville convinced me to try that crazy dragonberry shot.” _Dragonberry,_ she repeated to herself, _Why does that sound familiar?_

She thought on it a moment then rushed to her closet and pulled out her professor's manual on Potions that she had used to study for her Magical Education License. While she had specialized in Charms, graduates in Magical Education were required to take a comprehensive exam on all offered courses as well as complete a thesis on their desired subject, and naturally Hermione had kept all of her study materials just in case. She flipped to the glossary and ran her finger down the D section until she landed on:

_**Dragonberry : **Somewhat rare ingredient utilized for brewing liquids of various natures ranging from pranking a friend, to interrogating the most dangerous sort of witch or wizard. Dragonberry will illicit the innermost thoughts and feelings from those who consume it. Be warned, if too heavy a dose is consumed, you may learn far more from your target than you bargained for. See page 312. _

_Side Effects: Memory loss, rise in body temperature, rare instances of rash_

_Recommended Dose: 2oz/56.75g_

_Onset Time: ~1 hour_

_Life of Recommended Dose: ~10-12 hours_

Hermione sighed at finally having her answer, and it was both a sigh of relief and a sigh of distress because while at least this meant that Ginny truly had no recollection of that evening and therefore hadn't treated her the way she thought she had by rushing out the following morning, it also meant that Hermione was going to have to set the record straight (not straight, gay, she was going to have to set the record gay). As horridly uncomfortable as their next conversation was likely to be, it would still be better than letting Ginny continue to feel the way she likely has all this time. Because up until today, Hermione had only been looking at things from her own perspective and failed to notice that perhaps Ginny had been haunted by their past as much as she had. It had never struck Hermione that Ginny would blame herself when she had never attributed any blame towards her.

In fact, the main reason Hermione had been so angry with Ginny was the way she just got up, left, and refused to speak with her after what she had thought was a monumental moment for their relationship. Sure, part of her was also still unfairly angry that she couldn't control her feelings for Ginny, nor the chaos those feelings seemed to cause, but it simply wasn't right to leave things as they currently stood with Ginny blaming herself for something that wasn't her fault just because it was easier to let it be. And so Hermione awaited Ginny's return, not with the type of anticipation while waiting for something you want to do, but the type you feel when preparing for something you know you _need_ to do. The only problem was that Ginny never showed.


	6. The Art of Avoidance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When all plans go to hell.

Ginny left Hermione's room with a racing pulse. She had hoped to drop off some food, return Hermione's quidditch notes, and then get the hell out of there. But then before she knew it, she was admitting that Hermione had tried to kiss her after returning from Hogsmeade the night prior. Which, whatever, it's not like Ginny has never had a straight friend try to come on to her. But then again, this is _Hermione_ , not just any old straight friend. Still, she was fine, she had hung in there and tried to be nonchalant about it so they could hopefully pretend it never happened.

After all, Ginny was only supposed to be here for a few weeks to help with tryouts, preseason training and strategy. Then she would be back to her normal life and could work on shoving this time to the back of her head with the rest of her long list of repressed memories involving Hermione. Not the healthiest plan maybe, but a plan nonetheless. But then Hermione had to go and bring up _that_ night. And she didn't just reference it, she actively wanted to talk about it, about the details of what happened. It made her realize that, as terrible as it was to wake up next to Hermione with no memory of how she had landed them there, actually knowing what she had done seemed to terrify her even more. 

Still, it seemed important to Hermione that they discuss the details of that night, and after all the shit Ginny had put her through, she could hear Hermione out on this. She deserved to be shouted at, to be blamed, to be slapped in the face even, and if Hermione needed to get that off her chest to move on, Ginny wouldn't try to stop it. She would take it, she would finish up her work on campus, and then she would go back to staying the hell out of Hermione's way so she could be happy in life. She remembered the day she resigned herself to the fact that it was best to do just that. 

** … **

It had been the lowest moment in her life, waking up next to Hermione and registering the amount of wrong she had done. The thought of taking advantage of Hermione, her best friend, made her feel ill. The thought of disrespecting her brother's relationship made her equally nauseous. The thought of acting like a homewrecker in any way, shape, or form made her feel vile. And so when Ginny woke up to the harsh reality that she had done all of the above, she instantly got sick. 

And then there had been Hermione, trying to get her to talk to her about it. Ginny knew that she would have tried to sit Ginny down and make her feel like she wasn't the complete asshole that she totally was. She would tell her not to blame herself. She would have taken ownership of what happened even though it was literally all Ginny's fault. But Ginny couldn't let her do that, she needed to get out and stay out of Hermione's life.

It hadn't always been easy, maintaining a friendship with Hermione, but she knew it was worth it to have Hermione in her life. It was worth it to watch Hermione and Ron go from being friends to dating to engaged. And she was happy for them, truly. She knew that Hermione was her straight best friend and that if Hermione wasn't with Ron she still wouldn't be with Ginny. Accepting that fact was difficult, but it helped prevent Ginny from losing an amazing person from her life.

She knew she had to keep herself in check, to maintain that perspective that it would never happen between them, to be aware and respectful of those boundaries and she really thought she had it down. She never initiated anything between herself and Hermione during their seventh year at Hogwarts together. Sure Hermione would be a little touchy with her, but it wasn't anything beyond straight girl friend stuff. It would make her heart flutter or cause her to lose her breath or get goosebumps, but she never initiated and she never gave in and she had everything under control. At least she thought she did until she woke up naked next to her brother's fiance while he was away on business. _Not_ a great way to kick off the New Year, that's for sure.

After being ill and getting dressed, Ginny had bolted and spent the entire day contemplating what to do to help fix the mess she had made. She considered just disappearing altogether and never talking to anyone again or telling Ron what she had done and that it was all her fault and not to blame Hermione. But she never got the chance, they got the call about Ron the next day and suddenly regret wasn't even close to covering the type of despair she was experiencing. 

She couldn't speak at Ron's funeral, she just sat silently off to the side. She couldn't look any of her family in the eye, much less Hermione. Afterwards she went home, curled up on the floor, and repeated, “I'm so sorry, Ron,” upwards of 200 times on the off chance he could hear her. She made no attempt to speak to Hermione again. What would she say? She had already done an irreparable amount of damage to her life, but now with Ron completely gone, she wouldn't even get the chance to come to any sort of resolution on the matter. Ginny kept mostly to herself for awhile as she tried to process and come to terms with what happened.

Ginny had to work through some dark times, times during which she didn't understand how she had the chance to go on living after doing something unforgivable when two of her siblings were robbed of their lives trying to do the right thing and protect others. It wasn't fair and it didn't make sense and it made Ginny want to throw everything away. She almost did, too, she almost threw away her career and just completely disappeared from everything and everyone she knew, but then she remembered how proud Ron had been when she signed with the Harpies. He said she was going to make the entire family proud, especially him. 

So while she didn't feel like she deserved any of it, she decided she would hang in there and try to make her family proud, to make Ron proud. She would try to do the right thing going forward and she would try to help others. And she had done a pretty good job of that. That's why she did as much charity work as she could, that's why she donated whenever she could, and that's why she agreed to come help out at Hogwarts free of charge. McGonagall had asked her to help strengthen the school's quidditch program and offered to pay a pretty nice wage for her efforts, but Ginny refused to take any sort of payment, allowing her to stay on campus during her time there was more than enough. 

Ginny hadn't realized Hermione would be here when she agreed, and when she did run into Hermione she didn't know how to act. She experienced the same problem she always had around Hermione, the longing. She longed for them to be close again, which she felt overwhelmingly guilty about. But if the last couple days have shown anything it's that the two of them can't be close. It was impossible, being around Hermione again. Sometimes her body ached for her as though it remembered what her mind didn't and, while she couldn't control it, it made her hate herself all over again. 

It was utterly infuriating, that this still had an effect on her after three years. Three years of focusing on her goals and moving forward and (clearly not quite) moving on. She had been with a few other women, attractive women, she had even tried to make things work with a couple of them too, but to no avail. She was famous, to her dismay, and she was successful and yet here she was still caught up in her ridiculous attraction to her brother's fucking fiance. Yes, Ron was gone, and that meant that technically Hermione wasn't engaged anymore, but if people thought of the two of them being together that's exactly what they'd say, 'Oh isn't that her dead brother's fiance? That's deeply disturbing.'

**…**

Even with all things considered, Ginny didn't dodge the conversation with Hermione intentionally, well not at first anyways. She was on her way back from Ravenclaw tryouts and had a half hour to spare before grabbing lunch and heading back out to the pitch for Slytherin's tryout. She set her route to Hermione's room and tried to ignore the thoughts swirling around in her head. _You can do this, just show up, listen, agree and leave,_ Ginny assured herself. 

“Ginevra, perfect timing, I was just looking for you!” she suddenly heard herself being summoned. 

“Headmaster, hi, how are you today?” Ginny asked.

“I'm well, can you come with me please?” McGonagall asked. Ginny's face fell just the slightest bit and McGonagall quickly picked up on it, “If you're busy we can certainly discuss this later.”

“Not necessary, what can I help you with?” Ginny asked. The two of them walked towards McGonagall's office and made small talk on the way.

“How are you enjoying your time here?” McGonagall asked.

_ She has no idea how loaded of a question that is,  _ Ginny thought before replying, “It has been great, I love working with the kids and I'm already seeing early improvement which is encouraging. I'm confident the program will rebound in no time.”

“And you're feeling welcomed?” McGonagall questioned further.

“Of course, yeah the students have been so sweet,” Ginny confirmed.

“And by the _staff_?” McGonagall pressed in a pointed tone, and Ginny instantly felt her palms start to sweat as she wondered if maybe McGonagall saw her coming out of Hermione's room after their trip to Hogsmeade.

“Uh right, the staff, um yes all good there too,” Ginny assured her, praying that she wasn't visibly sweating at this point.

“Good,” McGonagall finally said and Ginny breathed a sigh of relief when she realized she seemed to have passed whatever sort of test that was. 

She wasn't sure of what to say but thankfully the headmaster continued, “I think you're doing a marvelous job here, I can already tell that you're having a positive impact on the program and the morale of the students.”

“Wow, thank you, that means a lot,” Ginny grinned shyly. 

“There's a lot of opportunity here at Hogwarts, you know. Opportunity to do big things, to bring people together, to help people,” McGonagall informed.

“Yeah this has been really great, thank you for the opportunity to get involved,” Ginny said appreciatively, but with the suspicion that McGonagall was going to enlighten her on said opportunity shortly. 

They reached the first step of the spiral staircase leading up to McGonagall's office, which instantly wound it's way upwards as the Headmaster continued, “Of course, it was our good fortune that you agreed to come, although I still insist that you allow us to pay you for your time here.”

“Not going to happen, this is the least I could do considering all Hogwarts has done for me,” Ginny concluded.

McGonagall smiled as she opened the door, entered the room, and motioned for Ginny to take a seat as she lowered herself into her own chair. She then continued, “Well, would you do me one favor then?”

“Sure, how can I help?” Ginny asked.  


“Think of what you could do if you extended your stay, think of the impact you could have on the students, on the world even. There may be more opportunity awaiting you than you realize,” McGonagall informed with a sparkle in her eye.

Ginny could sense McGonagall was trying to sell her on something, but she couldn't help but bite and ask for more detail, “Really? Like what?”

“For the past few months I've been in touch with the Headmasters of the other European wizarding schools. We want to start a new tradition, one that will bring our schools together, one that will inspire students, one that will create a healthy competitive spirit,” McGonagall paused, gauging Ginny's interest.

Ginny smiled because she knew McGonagall had an agenda here, but couldn't deny she was intrigued, “And what might that be?”

McGonagall gestured at Ginny and made her reveal, “The European Scholastic Quidditch Cup.”

“Interesting,” Ginny admitted before pausing for the rest of McGonagall's pitch.

“The Hogwarts Quidditch Cups would only be the starting point. If the proposal is accepted, school champions would enter into the tournament to battle it out for the European championship title."

“Well sounds like a brilliant idea, but unfortunately I don't think I'd meet the age requirements to participate,” Ginny couldn't resist the urge to play dumb.

“Don't be coy, Weasley, I'm spearheading the effort to get board approval, and then I'll want to hand the reins over and appoint someone to manage it that I can trust, that will be fair and...” McGonagall trailed off. 

“And draw additional interest?” Ginny supplied the tail end of the Headmaster's statement.

“An added bonus, perhaps.” McGonagall smirked before continuing, “We want to go live within the next couple years. We're hoping for final board approval by the end of the spring term, but there's still a lot to discuss. Nothing is finalized, but having your name down as a potential candidate for leading the effort would certainly help. For now, I'd like to extend your offer through this year and keep you involved with coaching, reffing, and leading flying lessons. After all, _someone_ will have to host a conference to train up leadership of the weaker programs so they have a fair chance. I don't want to hear any excuses when Hogwarts is repeatedly named champion,” McGonagall finished with a wink.

It was an odd moment, to realize she was talking business with the headmaster of one of the most prestigious wizarding schools in the world. To be asked to lead a large effort like this. It made Ginny feel excited, and it made her feel proud. She immediately thought of Ron and could picture his reaction if she told him about this conversation, he would have insisted she jump at the opportunity. 

She felt a smile overtake her and was about to open her mouth to accept, but then she remembered a key component.  _Shit, but that would mean a LOT more time around Hermione._ Suddenly her excitement gave way to uncertainty. This wasn't the plan, and she felt her smile evaporate as she closed her mouth without saying a word.

“Don't answer now,” McGonagall cut in as she sensed the hesitation, “Just think about it. Can you do me that as a favor? But fair warning, at some point you would have to let us start paying you.” 

“Of course, I'll think about it,” Ginny said with a chuckle before continuing more seriously, “Thank you for even considering me, this sounds like an amazing opportunity.”

“Good, let's reconvene after first term. Which you'll be staying through I presume?” 

“Oh uh I didn't realize – I just thought,” Ginny stammered. 

“We'll take all the help we can get,” McGonagall admitted, and damn did she know how to play her hand.

“Well I'd love to, but I would have to be in and out between training and events,” Ginny informed.  
  
“Completely understandable. Just call Hogwarts your home base when you have the time. We'll arrange substitutes for coverage as needed if you provide your schedule,” McGonagall offered.

This was moving so fast, and Ginny was excited but also terrified. Ginny felt certain that this was both the opportunity she had been waiting for as well as the biggest mistake of her life waiting to happen. 

When it came down to it, all it took was McGonagall lightly clearing her throat before Ginny reflexively agreed, “How can I resist?” 

She left the Headmaster's office with her head swirling more than it had already been earlier in the day. Her stomach started growling, so she began her trek to the Great Hall for lunch. However, one look inside informed her that Hermione had at last surfaced from her room, and she quickly decided she could wait to eat until dinner. She needed to think about the discussion she just had. This changed her strategy when it came to Hermione and finishing their talk. And while she couldn't avoid the topic forever, an extra day or two while she sorted through things wouldn't hurt.

It wasn't as difficult to avoid Hermione now that Gryffindor's tryouts were over and the team captain was selected. She only knew the last bit from the students themselves, apparently Hermione wasn't making an effort to see or speak to her at this point either, which probably meant she was _really_ going to hear about it later when they finally did speak. At least now she would be able to work directly with the team for the most part. Eventually the final line-up would be ran by Hermione, but that would be another week off at least. She ate her meals at strange times and picked them up from the kitchen directly, crept in and out of her room, and always had the excuse of her quidditch training schedule in her back pocket just in case. Okay, fine, she may have used the Invisibility spell a couple times too. 

Before she knew it, the school week had flown by and it was Saturday. She was enjoying some quiet time in Madam Hooch's old office, which had recently become her personal sanctuary, to review the school's flying course curriculum. She would start to lead flying lessons the following week, so she could do with a bit of guidance on the topic. Suddenly the door to the office burst open, whipped right around on its hinges, and crashed into the wall, causing Ginny to jump in surprise and drop the cup of tea she had been attempting to take her first sip of. 

“Bollocks,” Ginny cursed at the ground dissapointedly before remembering there was an intruder before her. She didn't have to look up to know it was Hermione, who else would come seething in here like that? 

Unsurprisingly, it was in fact Hermione standing there with her arms crossed and tapping her foot up and down expectantly.

“Uh hi, you scared me,” Ginny started as she gestured to the shattered teacup scattered about the office floor before flicking her eyes back up to meet Hermione's. 

Hermione waved her hand as if to cast her petty ramblings aside, “We need to talk, Ginevra,” Hermione demanded.

Ginny sighed knowingly and quickly averted her gaze back down to the pool of tea now seeping into the rug before replying, “Do we?”

“You said you would stop by and that we would finish our conversation. That was almost a week ago,” Hermione reminded.

“I did,” Ginny confirmed.

“And?” Hermione pressed.

“Sorry?” Ginny offered.

“Do you _always_ have to make things this difficult?” Hermione snapped.

“I think you may have already reached a decision on that,” Ginny mused before continuing, “Look I've picked up some additional responsibilities around the school. I've been busy.” 

“Okay, sure. You're not sneaking around and eating your meals alone in this office to avoid me and finishing our discussion then?” Hermione called out.

“Who says it wasn't all of the above?” Ginny asked quietly, still staring at the floor and now going as far as nudging the corner of the rug with her foot absentmindedly.

Hermione threw her hands in the air as though she had given up, “Fine, you don't want to talk? We don't need to talk, go ahead and carry on thinking whatever you want. Serves you right for being such a menace all the damn time. I'll be going then.”

Ginny groaned as she pushed the Flying Instructor's Manual from her lap to the side of her chair, stood up and called out, “Wait. You're right, okay? I'm sorry, I meant to stop by, I was on my way back over after tryouts, but then McGonagall wanted to talk and, well, I got overwhelmed.” 

“By what?” Hermione asked crisply.

“She wants me to stay on longer, to assist as I'm able through this year, and then she's working on a proposal that she wants my help with during implementation if it goes through,” Ginny replied.

“And?” Hermione pressed again.

“And it all sounds amazing, but it would mean I'd be here in your space a lot longer than would be fair. I'm still trying to figure out how to navigate all of _this,_ ” Ginny explained as she gestured between them.

“So you don't want to take an opportunity you're interested in because you'd be stuck being around me?” Hermione glared.

“That's not what I said, like at all,” Ginny corrected.

“Then what are you saying, Ginevra?” Hermione asked impatiently as she glanced out the window.

“You really think _I'm_ the difficult one, don't you? Still blows my mind,” Ginny accidentally thought aloud. 

Before Hermione's scowl could transform into words of fury, Ginny continued, “No, don't. Honestly, I don't know how to make this work, us being around each other. I've already put you through hell and I don't deserve any of this really, so the last thing I want to do is get in your way or make anything worse for you. Truly.”

“Well if you would have allowed us to finish the conversation as I suggested, you would know that you shouldn't blame yourself for everything that's happened.” Hermione said in an only moderately irritated tone, which was a drastic improvement from moments prior.

“You really want to do this then? Fine, go ahead, let's have it,” Ginny conceded.

Hermione paused for a moment, seeming almost surprised Ginny had finally agreed to listen, and then dove right in to the bottom line, “For starters, the Dragonberry shot Neville got you that night caused you to, erhm, to say and do some things you may not have said and done under normal circumstances. It's also why you don't recall the remainder of the evening even though you didn't drink much that night.”

Ginny opened her mouth to ask how Hermione knew this, but Hermione waved her off and continued as though she needed to finish before she lost her nerve. So Ginny waited it out and held questions and commentary for the end.

“We went to yours to catch up and,” Hermione paused in a way that gave Ginny the inkling that she was omitting some information when she continued, ”Then _I_ kissed _you_ and things, uh, escalated _._ So if we are attributing blame, I'm the responsible party. I had no idea you were under the influence of a substance like that, you sounded so calm and certain and-” Ginny watched as Hermione flushed while she seemed to dance around her word selection. Hermione began to nervously play with her necklace as she finished, “And I don't know what came over me, but I couldn't help myself and I lost control. And clearly you weren't in control to begin with, so I should have been. What happened is on me.”

Hermione finally went silent and let the dust settle on what she said. Ginny's brain was processing furiously. This was an unexpected detailing of that night, but she decided it didn't really change her conclusion of where the blame lay. 

“This is all my fault, Mione” Ginny said softly.

“Did you not _just_ hear me? I kissed you first,” Hermione repeated.

Ginny quickly disagreed, “It's still on me. I'm gay, you're straight. I said who knows what to you, and it made you- I confused you. There's no way you would have done that if I hadn't. There's no way things would have _escalated_.”

“Ginny you didn't do anything to confuse me, I was already confused. It's not like you can turn someone gay, and you're not responsible for my actions, I am, so stop blaming yourself, please. That's the whole reason I wanted to tell you, so you wouldn't keep blaming yourself for something that's not your fault,” Hermione explained.

“Are you saying you're gay now?” Ginny asked.

“I didn't say- I don't- Gin, I haven't-,” Hermione stammered, the question had noticeably tripped her up.

Ginny was quick to jump in, “Of course you don't and you haven't, because you're _not_ , Hermione. That's my point, you're confused, and I'm the reason the lines of our relationship were blurred. And I may not be responsible for your actions, but I am certainly responsible for my own, and the fact remains that I slept with my brother's fiance that night. There's no excuse, it's repugnant. That's not who I want to be.” 

“You're right, it was wrong and it shouldn't have happened. Not like that,” Hermione agreed softly.

“Not ever,” Ginny corrected pointedly.

“But Ginny, what if-” Hermione started, but she suddenly stopped and broke eye contact as she glanced down at the mess from Ginny's lost cup of tea. Ginny watched as Hermione silently fixed the cup and cleaned up the spilt liquid with a small motion of her hand.

Ginny had noticed Hermione's face change at her last comment. She looked hurt, and she seemed like she had been biting back words she was refusing to speak, but why would she be hurt? What was Ginny supposed to say here? She suspected there was more to that night Hermione hadn't mentioned, but she didn't dare ask for more detail because she wasn't sure she could even handle the full truth. She already had been dealt enough trauma for the week, thanks.

Hermione sighed and seemed to have finally settled on her wording, “I think the best we can do here is to try and stop blaming ourselves for a misunderstanding and mistake that happened years ago when we were still practically kids, and focus on having a healthy working relationship.”

“Okay, agreed. Thanks for letting me know what happened that night. I'm really sorry, I can't say that enough,” Ginny replied.

“You're going to keep blaming yourself, aren't you?” Hermione asked.

Ginny shook her head no but answered, “Yes.” It earned a small smile out of Hermione.

“All a girl can do is try,” Hermione mumbled her surrender. “Friends, then?” she offered her hand to Ginny for them to shake on it.

Ginny looked at Hermione hesitantly before replying, “Coworkers?” Hermione's face made her quickly oblige, “Okay, okay, friends. Can't make a single joke these days.” She quickly shook Hermione's outstretched hand and then dropped it like it was piping hot so that the touch wouldn't linger.

It was difficult, acting adamantly opposed to something you desperately want. Hell, it was difficult enough wanting something you knew you shouldn't, something you tried not to crave. Ginny had a question pop into her head and welcomed the distraction from her thoughts involving Hermione, “You don't think Neville gave me that drink on purpose, do you?”

Hermione snorted before touching her hand to her forehead to compose herself. After a moment she simply said, “Ah, you were never in Potions class with the guy. Let's just say I highly doubt he had the slightest clue.”

“Yeah, figured that,” Ginny replied.

They stilled into silence and the air sat, heavy. There were still words unspoken, that much Ginny could tell. Yet she continued her refusal to fall into the trap of asking for the full replay of that night even though part of her was dying to know. 

Hermione furrowed her brow and opened her mouth to say something, which made Ginny's stomach flip, but it seemed Hermione lost her words. She chuckled nervously instead, and the part of Ginny that wanted to make sure Hermione was okay took the driver's seat.

“Hermione?” Ginny was suddenly speaking. _Fuck,_ _don't do this,_ she thought and quickly decided to abort.

“Yeah?” Hermione asked.

“Uh no, nothing. I'll see you around,” she said lamely. “Obviously,” she added.

Hermione didn't bother to tease, she just gave a small smile and said, “I'd hate to be the reason you refuse an offer you'd be a great fit for. We'll figure this out.”

Ginny mirrored Hermione's smile and nodded silently in agreement. Hermione quickly reciprocated the nod before making her exit.

Ginny stayed busy the following week, she tried not to overanalyze the conversation and dwell on what she could have said to make Hermione kiss her that night. It made her queasy the second she started to think on it, so she quickly avoided the topic. Thankfully, quidditch practices and flying lessons kept her focused on her work. 

And as much as her family irked her at times, she was looking forward to visiting the Burrow for her father's birthday that weekend. Part of her wanted to remind Hermione and ask her if she was still planning to attend, but she knew she couldn't let herself start going down that path, so she didn't breathe a word of it when they spoke at dinner on Friday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be set mostly at the Burrow, and some fun characters will be making appearances!
> 
> Thanks for reading and hope you're enjoying thus far.
> 
> Feel free to let me know what you think, the feedback is motivating! :)


	7. Everything is Fine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friends and family gather to celebrate Arthur's birthday. Hermione tries to right her wrongs while Ginny keeps a watchful eye.

** Hermione POV **

Hermione thought things seemed (almost) normal after her talk with Ginny. They amicably connected on Gryffindor's starting quidditch line-up and walked through the team's preseason training schedule. Hermione confirmed she felt confident to let Ginny take the season forward with the team captain unless they needed her input on something specific. In fact, Hermione almost laughed when Ginny seemed to ask for her sign-off on the matter, as if Hermione was going to offer any value by her continued involvement or had any concerns of Ginny's ability to lead the team. Still, she appreciated Ginny respecting the tradition of getting the Head of House's final approval even though she didn't officially hold the title yet.

And while things didn't get fully resolved during their discussion of what happened between them, and Hermione didn't tell the whole story of everything that was said that night, and Ginny still considered herself solely responsible for everything... okay maybe their conversation hadn't really accomplished much after all. But at least she tried to be honest, before she completely wussed out, and at least it seemed to have landed them in this semi-awkward but mostly functional working relationship thing.

Hermione figured there wasn't really any point in telling Ginny about something she said three years ago when she was under the influence of a mind altering-substance. It was _highly_ improbable Ginny had the same thoughts and feelings today what with being famous and wildly successful and probably one of the most desirable women of the queer community, not to mention the fact that she described sleeping with Hermione as 'repugnant'. So yeah, she went ahead and left out the part where her and Ginny said they loved each other that night. She also managed to sound like a blithering idiot when asked about her sexuality.

Ginny had asked it like it was a simple question, but for Hermione the answer wasn't clear if she were being honest. The truth was that she didn't know how to label herself. She had been with both men and women, and the distinction between her experiences didn't seem to correlate strictly with gender. It was more about the feeling she got around them, the essence of the person even. Needless to say, she wasn't in a rush to jump on the dating train between cheating on Ron, realizing she loved Ginny, and then losing both of them from her life without a resolution on either matter. Guilt filled up that entire facet of her life, and there simply wasn't room for anyone new. It wasn't until Luna urged her to 'get back out there' about a year ago that she even thought seriously about it. She wondered what dating would look like for her. Who would she even be interested in? 

Hermione picked up on the fact that Luna used gender neutral terms as she assured her that she would 'find somebody as great as she is' and 'deserves a wonderful person in her life'. It had taken Hermione time to recognize just how intelligent Luna was, how part of her brilliance was in areas Hermione never bothered to pay attention to. Luna had an innate sense of reading people, and in this case it unnerved her, perhaps amplified by the fact that Luna had the most perspective of how her relationship with Ginny had evolved during their seventh year at Hogwarts. She shook it off as Luna just being her open-minded self and not indicative of an assumption Luna was making about her specifically. She couldn't know about what had happened between her and Ginny, could she? 

Despite her reservations, Hermione listened to Luna, and went out with a woman in her Magical Education program. It didn't really take much effort to find herself going out with her classmate, she had been ignoring glances from the other woman for months. All it took was initiating a conversation before she had been asked out. Hermione decided there was absolutely nothing wrong with her date, but it didn't feel right either. She decided to give things a chance on a physical level to try and see if it helped her reach a decision, but within a minute or so Hermione froze up as images of Ginny and Ron filled her head. She tried and failed to push through it, and ultimately pretended to be feeling ill and left. She declined a rain check after explaining that she wasn't ready to date after losing Ron, which was half-true.

A few months later, she was out at a pub with friends and was approached by an attractive man. He insisted on taking Hermione out even as she insisted she wasn't looking for anything and would want to take things slow. They went out a handful of time before Hermione knew the physical aspect would soon be a logical progression. She simply wasn't interested in him like that, and certainly wasn't about to chance another flashback fiasco in attempts to try and force herself to figure out which label applies to her. So she ended it, still unsure as ever, and went back to not trying. While other areas of her life moved forward right on course, in this aspect Hermione remained in a sort of limbo of being unable to identify this part of herself and what she wanted in a relationship. Well she knew _one_ person she wanted, but that wasn't going to happen. 

**... **

It was Wednesday afternoon when Hermione remembered that it was Arthur's birthday that Sunday. She decided she would wait to see if Ginny brought the topic up because she didn't want to encroach on any family time or invade Ginny's space if she was intentionally taking a step back by not bringing her to the Burrow. After no mention of joining the Weasleys during dinner on Friday, Hermione took it as an indicator she had been effectively uninvited. And when Hermione didn't see Ginny at all on Saturday, her suspicions that Ginny had left for the Burrow without saying a word were confirmed. _That's fine, she's entitled to time with her family and I am going to be a supportive friend-person and make sure she gets the space she seems to need right now. Everything is fine,_ Hermione processed.

She was wrapped up in her favorite blanket that evening while grading essays in her office when Harry's voice surprised her. She looked up to see Harry's face grinning at her from her fireplace.

“Hermione, hey!” Harry greeted cheerily.

“Hi Harry! How are you?” Hermione asked.

“I'm well, really looking forward to seeing you tomorrow, it's been too long. So listen, I was thinking we could meet up beforehand to catch up a bit and head to the Burrow together afterwards,” Harry offered excitedly. 

“Oh, Harry, I'd love to. It's just that,” Hermione paused, unsure of how to proceed with her statement.

“Just what?” Harry asked.

_Oh just that I tried to kiss Ginny when I was drunk the other day and slept with her three years ago when I was still engaged to Ron and made a mess of everything so now Ginny doesn't want me there_ , she thought before instead replying, “Uh well, I'm not sure I can make it anymore. So many essays to score, you know?”

“Can't say I know about that one, but I _do_ know that you absolutely can't back out of this. I can't let you do that to Molly, it will crush her,” Harry said sternly. 

“Molly,” Hermione said softly, she hadn't even thought of how disappointed Mrs. Weasley would be because she had been so focused trying to figure out where Ginny's head was at on things. 

“Yeah, she mentioned how excited she was to see you at least three times when I last spoke to her. It's been years Hermione, come on, the essays can wait a day,” Harry said.

Knowing she couldn't get out of this one she only bargained, “We'll meet up first and head over together then, yeah?” 

“2PM, cemetery?” Harry asked.

“I'll be there,” Hermione replied.

“Okay, night, see you tomorrow,” Harry grinned before his face disappeared from her fireplace as suddenly as it had appeared.

**... **

Hermione arrived at the cemetery the following day and sat on the stone bench beside Ron's grave as she awaited Harry. It had been awhile since she was last here. She only came here to meet Harry when they needed to talk about something serious, she couldn't face coming here alone. It almost felt like the trio was back together again when her and Harry would talk here, that is until she would remember what she had done and instantly feel sick. She hadn't told Harry, or anyone else for that matter, about what happened. Hermione figured it would do more harm to Harry than it would help her to speak the truth of the matter, so she kept it completely to herself.

“Hey,” Hermione turned and was instantly wrapped in a bear hug by Harry.

“Hey yourself,” Hermione smiled as she replied. 

“Missed you,” Harry said.

“You too, I'm sorry I've been shit at staying in touch,” Hermione apologized.

“Yeah well, compared to the others I know I hear from you frequently so wasn't going to complain. I know you've had a lot to work through,” Harry replied.

“I'll try to be better,” Hermione promised.

“No worries, just glad you made it today, will mean a lot to Arthur too,” Harry said.

There was something about the weight of everything that hit Hermione all at once as though it was all a fresh wound. Having Ginny around again, being at Ron's grave with Harry, and knowing she would soon be seeing most of the other Weasleys was a lot to process after all this time away. 

“What's wrong?” Harry asked seriously after having clearly read Hermione's look of distress.

“How did it happen?” Hermione suddenly asked without answering Harry's question.

“You mean, Ron?” Harry clarified the question.

“I couldn't bear to ask before, too much at the time,” Hermione answered as she nodded in confirmation.

“I get that,” Harry started. He paused as he sat next to her on the bench and then continued, “Well as you know we were away on Auror business. At the time we couldn't tell anyone where we were headed or what we were doing because they didn't want us to risk jeopardizing the mission.”

Hermione nodded and Harry continued, “We went to Bulgaria responding to a report of a planned string of New Year's bank heists. The Bulgarian magical law enforcement was weak and, without the fear of Voldemort looming over them to keep them in line, the local mob was rising to power and reeking havoc across the nation. We learned the group was planning on hitting the largest bank chain using a Burhinosaurus to tunnel under the banks and drill through to the main vaults containing the most valuable possessions.”

Hermione's face must have effectively conveyed her confusion because Harry filled her in, “Yeah I hadn't heard of it either, it's such a rare beast most of the wizarding world doesn't even know about their existence. It's also a well kept secret by the Ministry of Magic due to its capacity to cause massive destruction as proved true when the first bank hit was left completely in ruins. Turns out there was a leak in the Bulgarian Ministry of Magic, and that's how the mob learned of the creature and were able to enchant it do their bidding.”

Hermione waited silently for Harry to continue, and he eventually added, “We were lucky the report had been forwarded to the Department of Magical Creatures because Luna caught us on our way out to respond to the call and briefed us on what to expect. She explained that they have an extremely sharp horn which can pierce just about anything if they go at it long enough. It's electric field weakens foundations which, when combined with razor sharp claws, make it an effective tunneler. Anyway, we successfully tracked down the ring leader and the creature after they hit the second location. Ron and I showed up first and were going to idle it by casting a Bewitched Sleeping spell at its horn, the only place where a spell can break through and effect the animal.”

Harry took a breath and Hermione could tell he was getting to the difficult bit, the part where things went wrong. After a moment he continued, “Luna had specifically warned us not to attack the beast anywhere else with spells because its force field would rebound our attacks, the tip of the horn is the only part where a spell can land because it protrudes from the defensive field. Unfortunately we didn't have time to share that with the local crew given the time constraint of the call and last minute report of how they were planning to pull off the burglaries. We didn't honestly even think they would show up. But just as we were about to handle it, the local team arrived and panicked when a couple of them got electrocuted for apparating too close to the animal. I still remember their captain yelling 'We've got to put it down,' like it was yesterday. Before we could tell them not to attack, I saw a flash of green that rebounded off of the animal and into Ron. It hit him square in the chest, he had no chance to dodge it. It all happened so fast and deflected so unpredictably after being distorted in the field.”

Harry fell silent and Hermione felt nauseous to finally learn what Ron had been dealing with while she was being unfaithful to him. She quickly felt tears well up in her eyes, but she wiped them away and bit back on her sadness as hard as she could in absolute refusal to actively weep. She knew she didn't deserve the comfort Harry would give her.

Harry broke the silence, “I'm so sorry you lost him, Hermione. It's not fair.”

Hermione shook her head, “It's not fair that he's gone, for anyone, but I didn't deserve him to be honest.”

“Don't say that,” Harry said.

“No I mean it, Harry, I really messed things up,” Hermione continued.

“What are you talking about? What happened isn't your fault, there's nothing you could have done.” Harry assured.

“Please don't hate me,” Hermione begged.

“You're worrying me, Hermione. Just tell me, I won't hate you,” Harry said concernedly. 

“Don't be so sure.” Hermione said grimly, “There's no good way to say this so I just have to-” Hermione paused and took a shaky breath before continuing, “I cheated, on Ron. While you were away. When he-” Hermione trailed off.

“You what?” Harry's voice rang out in disbelief.

Hermione swallowed back more tears and explained further, “It's true. We were rocky and I was confused. We rushed into getting engaged and I, I freaked out.”

“Cheating isn't the same thing as freaking out Hermione,” Harry said seriously.

Hermione quickly agreed, “You're right and it's not an excuse. There isn't a single excuse for doing something like that.”

Harry went silent for a bit, Hermione didn't know what to say so she let the silence fill the space between them. She hung her head and waited.

Finally Harry admitted, “Ron thought there might have been someone else.”

“He did? I swear it only happened once Harry, it wasn't an ongoing thing,” Hermione promised.

“He just mentioned you seemed distant and wondered if you met someone else, and that he was afraid to lose you. I think it's why he proposed when he did. I thought it was a little fast, but who was I to tell him that?” Harry explained.

Hermione took in Harry's words and shook her head slightly as she said, “I'm horrible. You can tell me I'm horrible or never talk to me again or whatever you-”

“You really haven't told anyone this before?” Harry suddenly asked.

“Never,” Hermione confirmed.

“I can't imagine carrying that around all this time,” Harry said sincerely.

“Yeah not the best for my mental state, but wasn't really something I wanted to unload on anyone else,” Hermione explained.

Harry went quiet again and seemed to be processing everything. After a few moments he reached out, pulled Hermione into a hug, and said, “I know you, I know who you are and you're not a bad person. I don't hate you, I could never hate you,”

Hermione finally let her tears flow freely down her face. It was a rush of relief to finally tell Harry what she had done and for him to not despise her for it.

“I guess that explains why you haven't been around the Burrow since everything,” Harry offered as he released Hermione from his embrace.

_ That's half of the reason, _ Hermione thought before replying, “Yeah, I'm pretty nervous for today.”

“Are you planning to tell them?” Harry asked worriedly.

“I don't know, I feel like they should know the truth, same as you,” Hermione answered. 

“Wow, okay. Well I support whatever you decide to do, maybe just wait until after dinner?” Harry said with a small grin, and Hermione knew she was beyond lucky to have a friend like Harry.

Hermione chuckled softly as she wiped a tear and sniffled. “I've really missed you, Harry.”

He threw his arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head as he said, “Missed you too.”

** … **

As they approached the Burrow, Hermione didn't feel ready for the events about to transpire. She was going to see people she hadn't seen in years. People that knew nothing of how terrible she had been. People who would be happy to see her when they should be furious that she even had the audacity to show her face. She suddenly felt the need to flee and started, “Harry I can't do this I've got to-”  


“Hey, it's going to be alright. These people love you and they miss you and we're going to go in here and share a nice day with them because they're looking forward to seeing us. And then you can choose whatever you want to do from there. If you never want to talk to them again, fine. If you want to tell them what happened between you and Ron, fine. I know that you loved Ron, and they know that too. Making a mistake doesn't change that fact,” Harry assured her.

Hermione paused for a few moments, took a deep breath and nodded. Harry nodded back and knocked on the door. And just like that, her chance to leave was gone.

Molly answered the door and Hermione instantly felt guilty at how excited Mrs. Weasley was to see her. “Come here, you!” she said as she wrapped Hermione in a tight hug. She felt guilty for being there, for allowing herself to be close to Ron's family after what she did. She also felt guilty for staying away as long as she had without an explanation.

“Molly, hi, it's so good to see you,” Hermione said, and she meant it.

“I'm so glad you made it, please come in!” She hugged Harry and pulled them both into the house.

Arthur appeared at the door next, “Harry! How the heck are yah?” 

“Happy Birthday ya old man!” Harry teased.

Arthur then saw Hermione and smiled widely. His demeanor changed as he greeted her, “Hermione, dear. Thanks for joining us today, what a lovely gift to see you.” 

“Happy Birthday, Arthur. Thanks for having me, it's really great to see you all,” Hermione said as she gave him a hug.

Harry instantly deserted her at Arthur's mention of smokingwith George, Percy and Bill. Molly beckoned Hermione to follow her the opposite way as she said, “The girls are in the living room. I'm just readying a few things in the kitchen but I'll join you soon. Go on ahead.”

Hermione followed Molly's direction and proceeded to the living room. She soon caught sight of Ginny's long red hair and felt herself hesitate. She opened her mouth to greet Ginny, to explain that she wasn't here to encroach on her space, but she stopped abruptly as a blonde woman entered into view and said “Here babe,” as she handed Ginny a beer. 

Ginny seemed unbothered by being called babe and simply said “Cheers” as she accepted the drink and took her first swig. 

Hermione was frozen on the spot as she watched the other woman proceed to sit down beside Ginny. Like _right_ beside her. Hermione decided she couldn't just stand there all night, but words seemed to escape her so she cleared her throat instead. Ginny turned around and her eyes went wide upon spotting Hermione standing there. Ginny quickly stood and moved away from the blonde. She sounded completely caught off guard as she said, “Hermione, hey, uh this is-” Ginny fell silent as though she were struggling to speak.

“Sam,” the blonde finished for Ginny as she stood and held out her hand to introduce herself after giving Ginny a strange look. She then smiled confidently at Hermione, which instantly irritated her.

“Pleasure,” Hermione replied as she shook Sam's hand in what she hoped came off as the most uninterested manner possible. Hermione did note, however, that Sam had a strong handshake.

Hermione maneuvered further into the room and greeted Fleur, who remained seated and allowed Hermione to bend down to hug her. Hermione then went and sat in a chair on the opposite side of the room, without hugging Ginny, and watched the two women curiously as they resumed sitting by each other on the couch. Hermione noticed Ginny scooted herself a little further away when Sam sat just as closely to Ginny as she had when Hermione first happened upon them. 

Ginny appeared to become preoccupied with studying the living room carpeting, which hadn't changed since the family moved into the house ages ago, and Hermione really wasn't feeling up to the challenge of navigating a conversation with Fleur today, so she took a chance on the unknown and asked, “Sam, tell me, what do you do for work?” 

Hermione's eyes narrowed as she awaited a reply, ready to dissect each word and identify every weakness of the woman seated before her.

Sam glanced at Ginny, looking a bit confused. Ginny seemed to resurface and she shook her head at Sam while stating, “She's not a quiddy.”

“Oh,” Sam said as though surprised and glanced at Hermione before going silent without any further explanation.

“A what?” Hermione asked impatiently, and her agitation only grew now that the two women were both having a side conversation and seemingly speaking their own language to boot.

Ginny gestured to Sam and said, “Case in point.” 

She then turned to Hermione and explained, “A quiddy is someone who follows quidditch, unlike you.”

“That's not entirely true, I follow y- some quidditch,” Hermione instantly felt her cheeks burn at almost having openly admitted that she follows Ginny's quidditch career.

“Oh okay, so you know that Sam is the first-string seeker for the Appleby Arrows then?” Ginny attempted to hide what Hermione knew was an amused smile by putting her hand to her mouth and lightly rubbing her upper lip with her thumb. This proved to only further annoy Hermione.

“Of course, that's right, I thought you looked familiar,” Hermione quickly recovered. Although that _wasn't_ why she looked familiar. Hermione actually recognized her from the plethora of media outlets insisting Sam and Ginny are a 'match made in heaven'. This was the same person Ginny had insisted she _wasn't_ dating a couple weeks back, the same night Hermione accidentally drank too much and tried to kiss Ginny. Ginny and Sam sure looked pretty close today. _Well, that's embarrassing,_ Hermione thought. 

Hermione hadn't bothered to read about the woman always being spotted with Ginny, the pictures and headlines were more than enough.

Harry entered the room and he brightened upon spotting the blonde, “Sam, hey! Didn't realize you were joining. Great to see you.”

Sam barely had a chance to utter a greeting in response before Molly trailed in and instantly beamed as she called out, “Don't they just look perfect together?” as she gestured towards the pairing.

Fleur clapped excitedly and cheered, “Beautiful.”

Harry nodded his polite agreement and Hermione grimaced as Sam smiled, leaned back, wrapped her arm around Ginny, and replied, “Molly, you're too sweet.”

Hermione saw Ginny kick Sam out of the corner of her eye and heard Sam respond with a yelp as Ginny sent dagger eyes at Molly. 

“Mum, we talked about this,” Ginny seemed to warn.

“Fine, fine,” Molly snapped back. “They're _just friends_ ,” she announced to the room disbelievingly. 

Sam only chuckled at the statement and Ginny turned her glare on the blonde this time, which effectively shut her up.

Hermione suddenly felt as though she were about to be ill. There were _way_ too many strange dynamics permeating the air of a room this size.

“I'm just going to step outside for a bit, see if I can spot any wildlife. Back in a minute,” Hermione announced and instantly bolted from the living room to the backyard.

As she turned to close the back door behind her she heard Ginny mutter, “And I'll go see what she's really up to.” 

Hermione took a few quick paces away from the house and then stopped. This was a lot. Talking to Harry, seeing the Weasleys, seeing Ginny with someone else. She closed her eyes as she heard the door open and shut again.

“You alright?” Ginny asked in what sounded like genuine concern, “You looked a little woozy in there.”

“Yep, just needed some air,” Hermione replied irritably without facing back towards Ginny.

“Ah, makes sense. Yeah, you've always been the outdoorsy type that comes alive when you feel a fresh breeze on your face,” Ginny jested.

“Can it, Ginny. Why are you even out here?” Hermione bluntly replied.

“What is going on with you today? Did I do something?” Ginny asked.

Hermione finally turned to face Ginny and let her frustration pour out, “Is _that_ why you didn't want me to be here anymore, because you were planning on bringing her? I thought you weren't dating.” 

Ginny paused and regarded Hermione almost incredulously for a moment before speaking, “Uh, right, so just a couple initial thoughts on that. First, why are you assuming I don't want you here? Second, does it automatically mean we're dating if she's here with me? And third, would it be a problem if we were dating? I'm not sure why you would care if that were the case.”

“There's no problem at all, your mum seems to _love_ having her here, in fact.” Hermione saw Ginny pretend to cough into her shoulder in order to stifle yet another stupid grin and it made Hermione become defensive, “And I don't, care, whatsoever. Just you could have told me is all because we're, _coworkers_.” Hermione intentionally used Ginny's joke from their talk the other day against her.

“Well, _coworker_ , as I already said, there's nothing to tell here. Matchmaker Molly is always jumping to conclusions. You know from experience she reads way too many trashy magazines that put ludicrous ideas in her head. I literally had to stop bringing Sam around for awhile when the press first started publishing about us because she would assault Sam with questions on how we met and when we first fell in love and when we were going to get engaged. It was revolting. Every time I finally get her to drop it they publish something else and it starts her back up all over again. This is her behaving herself after a stern talking to, believe it or not,” Ginny informed.

“Aw, poor Sam,” Hermione said with an eye roll.

“She's a really cool person, which you would see if you just gave her a chance,” Ginny fired back.

“I'm sure she is, famous too by the sounds of it, quite fit as well, wouldn't you say?” Hermione pressed.

Ginny gave her a puzzled look before responding, “You're being absolutely ridiculous. You know that, right?” Hermione saw Ginny shake her head decidedly as she continued, “I'm going to head back inside because this conversation doesn't seem to be helping as was intended.” 

But then Ginny paused, and her features softened as she reached out, lightly gripped Hermione's forearm, and said, “Just so you know, I  _ am _ happy you're here, and so is Mum. She hasn't shut up about you since I got in Saturday morning. It's been rather annoying actually.” 

Ginny looked down at where her hand held Hermione's arm before instantly releasing it, turning away, and taking a couple steps back towards the house.

Hermione felt the corner of her mouth curl up before almost involuntarily belting out, “'Here babe', seriously? You're _really_ going to try and tell me there's nothing going on there, Gin? I know you better than that, and she was basically sitting on your lap.” Hermione knew this wasn't her finest moment and that she had absolutely crossed at least one line during this conversation, but she had a gut feeling she couldn't resist getting to the bottom of.

Her comment succeeded in making Ginny spin back around. “Honestly, Hermione? She's like that with everyone, it's more a sign she's interested if she actually gets shy around you,” Ginny informed.

“And you know that because?” Hermione asked and Ginny finally looked caught.

“Wow, you're clearly not going to drop this. If you must know, we dated _extremely briefly,_ way before the press made it into a 'thing'. It was nothing, practically over before it even really started,” Ginny said.

“I _knew_ it, so what happened? I want dirt,” Hermione requested victoriously.

“There's no dirt, it just didn't take. We're way better off as friends, so that's what we've been ever since,” Ginny answered as she looked around the yard, clearly ready for the conversation to be over.

“Does  _ she _ know that's all you are?” Hermione asked with a cunning smile.

“Okay, and we're done here. Can you please come back inside and act like a normal person for once?” Ginny questioned. 

She then turned without waiting for a reply, but Hermione responded nonetheless, “Sure Romeo, whatever you want.”

Hermione saw the back of Ginny's head turn side to side as she trailed her back into the house, indicating Ginny remembered covering Shakespeare during the Muggle Studies course she took at Hogwarts. It made Hermione's smirk widen.

** … **

Hermione felt herself relax a bit after speaking with Ginny and being reassured that Ginny was honest with her about her relationship with Sam. She noticed Sam seemed to be more mindful of Ginny's personal space throughout the afternoon and made an effort to talk with Hermione a bit about what she did for work and what her interests are. Ginny had flashed a smirk in their direction when she caught sight of them talking, and, as much as it pained Hermione to admit, she could see what Ginny meant about Sam being a pretty cool person. Something about Sam still unnerved her though, maybe it was knowing that Sam had been with Ginny too and that the rumors of their romantic relationship weren't completely unfounded.

Hermione shook off the thought and soon found herself enjoying her time with the group. It almost felt like coming home, being around people she had been so close with again. Except that nagging feeling of what she had done weighed on her and made her feel somewhat out of place at the same time.

Before she knew it, Molly summoned everyone to the kitchen for dinner. They shared a birthday toast to Arthur before digging into the feast Mrs. Weasley prepared for them.  


As dinner reached it's close, Sam thanked the Weasley's for having her and took her leave for the evening. She had seemed to smile at Hermione almost innocently as she said, “Nice to meet you, Hermione.” It made Hermione soften her demeanor towards the other woman as she said, “You too.”

After Sam left, George rubbed his hands together excitedly and said, “If everyone could join me outside, I've prepared a Weasley birthday special with a few items from the shop.”

Arthur chuckled and the group began to make it's way out to the backyard.

Molly informed the group, “You lot get started, I'll bring out some dessert and drinks.”

Hermione planned to follow everyone outside, but a last second decision found her veering off from the group.

Ginny, who had been walking behind her, asked after her, “Where are you off to?”

Hermione briskly informed, “Just going to help in the kitchen,” without so much as looking over her shoulder.

She didn't wait for a reply, but she felt Ginny's eyes on her as she disappeared back into the house after Molly.

Hermione found Molly summoning a tray and glasses for their Butterbeers. She looked up and smiled in surprise at Hermione joining her as she assured, “Hermione, go ahead and enjoy the show, I've got this.”

Hermione shook her head and felt the words ascending from her gut up her throat to the tip of her tongue before finally leaving her lips, “I'm sorry I've been away all this time.”

Molly smiled appreciatively and replied, “It's okay dear, everyone deals with grief in the best way they can. Running away is normal, we're just glad you're here now.”

Hermione felt herself grow queasy as more words worked their way up and out of her, “Unfortunately it wasn't only grief I was running from.”

Molly's surprise turned to confusion, “What else has been going on?”

Hermione was able to answer this question more quickly, as she was very familiar with the feelings, “A lot of self-hatred and guilt.”

Molly grew concerned and tried to put Hermione's mind at ease, “You've no reason to hate yourself. You're a beautiful young woman and you're already doing so much good with your life. You should be nothing but proud.”

Hermione bit back tears, she wasn't going to cry. She wasn't going to make this about her. This was about setting the record straight, about giving good people the truth. After righting herself, Hermione continued, “I wish that were true, but it's not. The truth is that you're all being so lovely to me when I don't deserve it. As wonderful as it feels to be here and see you all, I feel like it's unfair for me to just go right along without giving you the opportunity to hate me. You deserve that opportunity after what I've done.”

Molly took a step closer, put her hand on Hermione's shoulder, and asked, “What's happened? Are you alright?”

Hermione could hardly speak, but she forced herself to continue. She knew she needed to do the right thing, so she took a big breath and replied, “Molly I, I cheated on Ron. Once, at the end. I was going to tell him when he came back only he-” Hermione trailed off and squeezed her eyes closed tightly for a moment, it was the only way to be sure tears wouldn't start flowing out. 

Silence hung in the air and Hermione finally opened her eyes to see Molly looking surprisingly calm. Hermione wondered if she should repeat herself, as she pictured Molly's reaction to information like this would be far more hostile.

Before Hermione could do so, Molly finally spoke, “Well it's not the best news, is it?”  
  
Hermione gulped and prepared for the (extremely justified) wrath to begin as she agreed, “Not so much.”

“That explains why you've stayed away so long. Thought that seemed off for you,” Molly processed aloud. She frowned and Hermione braced herself, but then Molly relaxed her face and said, “That took a lot of courage to tell me, so thank you for the honesty. But you're always welcome here and you'll always be a part of this family.”

Hermione's jaw dropped in shock and she questioned, “You don't hate me?”

Molly sighed and replied, “Life and love are complicated. People make mistakes, people get hurt. We do it to others and others do it to us. I know you wouldn't intentionally hurt anyone and sometimes that's all you can control. That and growing and learning from your mistakes. You kids lived through a nightmare together. If it wasn't meant to be you two would have figured it out in time and supported each other in whatever made you happy in life."

Hermione felt undeserving of the forgiveness, and the guilt resurfaced so loudly in her head that she accidentally muttered her thoughts aloud, “I'm not sure if that's true.” She stiffened at the realization that Molly had heard her and watched as the other woman's face turned slightly. 

Molly opened her mouth and Hermione knew she was in trouble. Molly would ask what she meant and Hermione had a solid chance of completely breaking down and saying who knows what.

Thankfully, Ginny's voice suddenly resounded in the room “Do you two need any help? Dad's asking for you, Mum, and dessert.” Hermione breathed a silent sigh of relief.

Molly held her gaze on Hermione for a second before turning to Ginny with a smile and saying “Of course. I'll head out now.” 

Molly sent along a tray of sliced pieces of cake and before she could turn to finish preparing the next round of Butterbeers, Ginny offered, “We'll bring the drinks.”

Mrs. Weasley smiled and said “Thanks Ginny. See you girls out there.”

Ginny regarded Hermione curiously as she waited to hear the back door click closed behind Mrs. Weasley. She then lifted an eyebrow and said, “Well you're having quite the day, aren't you?”

Hermione played dumb and started to question, “What-”

Ginny cut in, “Accosting my friend, throwing a fit in the yard, almost telling Mum we slept together. Is it too much to ask for a heads up on the last bit so I can at least have a shot of running for my life? Only seems fair.” 

“How did you- Ginny did you follow me over here?” Hermione asked sternly.

“I could tell you were on a mission and wanted to make sure you didn't self-destruct,” Ginny admitted with a shrug. 

Hermione realized that Ginny was handling this more collectedly than she could be, but instead of leveling with her, Hermione stubbornly denied the fact the Ginny may very well have saved them from being exposed, “I wasn't going to say a word about you. I was being honest about my actions, what you do is up to you.” And it was at least true in that she hadn't _planned_ to say anything about Ginny's involvement.

Hermione knew Ginny would see through her act that she had everything under control in her conversation with Molly. For her part, Ginny didn't call Hermione on her bullshit and instead replied, “Okay, well I thought you understood how that woman works by now. She sniffs out dirt on people like it's her job. Once she gets the scent of a trail she doesn't let up until she gets to the bottom of it. Sort of reminds me of someone else I know.”

Hermione saw the smirk on Ginny's face and knew Ginny was only warning her, not berating her as Hermione might have done if the roles were reversed. Hermione weakly grinned and replied, “I deserve that for earlier. But I doubt I'll be invited back here any time soon, so as long as you don't say anything, you've nothing to worry about.

Ginny paused and Hermione discerned it was to picture Molly's reaction if she found out Ginny was the person Hermione had slept with. Ginny finally responded, “Yeah, let's hope so.”

Hermione nodded and moved to prepare the tray of drinks, but Ginny caught her hand and asked in a serious tone, “You doing okay though?” 

Hermione shrugged and said, “Sure, why?”

Ginny thought for a second then replied, “Checking on a friend is all.”

“You mean colleague,” Hermione challenged.

Ginny chortled and reiterated, “No I meant friend, but just to be clear, you're not thinking about holding a press conference about that night are you?”

Hermione grinned reluctantly and once again Ginny managed to make her smile against all odds, and she was thankful for it. Without thinking, Hermione tugged at where their hands were linked to draw Ginny in for a quick hug. 

She detected Ginny's surprise at her actions and Hermione instantly worried that she had crossed a line. Hermione swiftly released Ginny just as fast as she had initiated the contact, and right as Ginny had moved to reciprocate the hug. It resulted in them awkwardly stumbling into and away from each rather than actually embracing.

“Sorry,” Hermione said as she righted herself and adjusted the waistline of her sweater.

“No matter,” Ginny replied with a shy smile as she lightly rubbed where her temple had bumped into Hermione's forehead.

Hermione quickly changed topics, “Should we get these drinks out there?”

Ginny nodded and flicked her wrist, causing the bottles of Butterbeers to simultaneously fill the empty glasses on the serving tray Molly had left for them. 

Hermione went to pick up the tray, but Ginny moved in and said ”All good, I've got it.”

Hermione smiled because she knew Ginny recognized she had in fact been through a lot in facing everything that day and was making an effort to help. She also knew that Ginny was definitely holding back on the urge to say something smart like 'Don't want the drinks ending up on the floor' to poke fun at her moment of clumsiness. Ginny returned the smile and they held eye contact for a few seconds. Hermione felt herself growing warm and just as she started to worry that she might get too locked on, Ginny took a step back and broke their eye contact while she picked up the tray of drinks. She then faced back towards Hermione and flashed one of her famous grins before politely saying, “After you, Professor Granger.”

Hermione was quick to follow direction and led them through the house to the backyard as it allowed her to hide how flustered she had become. Because in that moment she realized that she was in as deep as ever when it came to Ginny, and hearing 'Professor Granger' come out of Ginny's mouth undeniably stirred something in her that she knew it shouldn't. Something that she wished it wouldn't.

** … **

Hermione took a seat beside Harry on the large blanket covering the lawn and enjoyed the second half of George's fireworks display. Thankfully, she only felt what she assumed to be Mrs. Weasley's eyes on her a couple times throughout the remainder of the evening. After the show, the group continued to lounge outside and took advantage of what would likely be one of the last pleasant evenings before the seasons changed and the weather became steadily cooler. 

Slowly, yawns began passing from one to another and it was time to call it a night. As they bid farewells and prepared to disperse, Molly called out, “We'll expect to see you all back here again for the holidays.” After a moment's pause, Hermione was shocked when Mrs. Weasley added, “That means you, Hermione.” The comment earned soft chuckles from the group. She caught a glimpse of Ginny briefly touching her fingertips to her forehead as she ever so slightly shook her head from side to side. With everyone watching Hermione, she had little choice but to smile and reply, “Wouldn't miss it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you for reading and hope you're enjoying so far!
> 
> Hopefully this one isn't too serious, I tried to balance things out with banter, but ultimately wanted to give some background on what happened to Ron as well as show Hermione trying to make amends as she reconnects with everyone. 
> 
> Let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions! I have an outline of where this will go, but I'm always open to thoughts and ideas. :)


	8. It's Not Nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When things start to heat up...

**Ginny POV**

After their guests left, Ginny decided to spend Sunday night at the Burrow. She felt like she needed distance from Hogwarts and from Hermione. Now that Hermione was back in her life, she was starting to feel a new foundation was slowly being formed, perhaps a friendship between them. It felt good, but it also concerned her. Would she be able to maintain boundaries better this time around? Would she be able to keep things at the platonic level where they needed to stay?

October brought with it Harpies off-season training sessions, teaching Hogwarts flying courses, leading the students in quidditch practices, and preparing for the school's season opener. She stayed at her own flat at times to help keep the proper perspective of her life outside of Hogwarts, and her work at the school. As a result, the answers to her questions regarding Hermione eluded her what with their interactions being somewhat limited. That is, until they suddenly became very apparent after a string of events carried unintended consequences.

It was a crisp November afternoon, and the Slytherin team had the pitch reserved for the final time slot before the first match of the season coming up that weekend. Ginny concluded the Slytherin practice with a huddle and gave out recognition to the team on the areas they were showing improvement. “Great stuff all, see you lot back here next week. I recommend watching the match this weekend to scout out the competition. Feel free to bring any questions you have to practice next week and I'll be happy to work through them with you,” she said to the team. She then handed off to the Slytherin captain to close things out.

Moments later, most of the students began to disperse, but two remained in place facing over in Ginny's direction. One seemed to be eyeing the other carefully as they began to edge closer to her. “Hey guys,” Ginny said lightly.

The student closer to her started in, “We just wanted to thank you for working with us and helping us improve.”

“No thank you necessary, you're doing all the work. You should be proud of yourselves,” Ginny complimented.

The two students smiled in reply and as she turned to head back to the castle the student spoke again, “We were also wondering, would you mind-”

The other Slytherin elbowed his friend and said “Cut it out, we'll lose house points.”

Ginny asked in confusion, “What would make you lose house points?”

The accompanying friend answered, “Headmaster said we shouldn't ask you for autographs because 'it's important to respect professional boundaries.'”

Ginny chuckled as she pictured McGonagall delivering that message, and it only hit her then that she hadn't received an endless amount of requests for autographs as one might have expected. If she took her celebrity status more seriously, she might have noticed this sooner. She smiled and replied, “How about we hold off on an autograph for now so you don't lose any house points, and I'll see if we can work something out with the Headmaster.”

The students grinned widely and said “Okay!” in unison. Ginny smiled when she saw them high-five each other as they hurried away.

What started out as a simple idea to hold a signing session in the Great Hall quickly evolved. Something about McGonagall considering Ginny for such a big role made her start to think bigger herself. After returning to the castle, she sent a couple owls calling in a favor or two and outlined a little proposal of her own, which she took to the headmaster after dinner.

**…**

The school's quidditch season opener resulted in Gryffindor narrowly beating Hufflepuff. The game carried on a bit as the Seekers struggled to secure the Snitch, however the stands remained fully packed throughout the match, and it was a sight that made Ginny smile.

After the game concluded, students immediately began to line up for the signing session Ginny had orchestrated. McGonagall had happily allowed her to move forward with her plan once she assured the Headmaster that the students were being extremely respectful.

As previously arranged, Ginny went to meet the other participants at the pitch's front office so they could walk in together for the signing. She quickly changed out of her referee outfit she had worn during the match and into her dark green Holyhead Harpies robes.

Sam and her Appleby Arrows teammate, Brooks, showed up in unison moments later, each donning their pale blue uniform robes complete with the team's large silver arrow emblem. Ginny greeted Brooks first with a friendly handshake and then smiled widely as she gave Sam a quick side hug. “Thanks for coming, both of you, especially with the late notice,” Ginny said appreciatively.

Sam quickly replied, “Are you kidding? We wouldn't miss it. Should have done something like this sooner to be honest.”

Ginny then saw a sudden change in Sam's facial features as if the confidence and swagger the woman exuded a majority of the time had been zapped right out of her.

“Alright, Weasley?” came a lofty voice from behind Ginny.

She spun around and bumped fists with her Holyhead Harpies teammate as she said, “Amelia, hey! Thanks for joining.”

“Course, what kind of captain would I be if I didn't drop all of my exciting plans on the spot to support my star Chaser's last minute philanthropic endeavors?” Amelia said coolly.

Ginny chuckled in reply, she had long learned not to misinterpret Amelia's dry humor and apparent smugness. Amelia was every bit the Slytherin she had been back during her time at Hogwarts, but in an endearing way. At the end of the day, there was no one else Ginny would rather have as the Harpies' captain.

Amelia nodded at Sam's teammate and simply said his name, “Brooks,” as a greeting. He nodded back with a smirk, completely unimpaired by Amelia's demeanor.

Then Ginny saw Amelia's eyes land on Sam, who acted exactly as Ginny predicted by remaining completely silent.

Ginny quickly tried to break the ice between the two, “Amelia, I'm sure you remember-”

Sam suddenly decided to cut in by stating, “I'm Sam,” while scratching the back of her neck nervously.

Amelia quirked a brow, “Yes, I know who you are, seeing as we've gone head to head for the Snitch about ten times now.”

Ginny was about to jump back in to save her friend, but Sam handled matters herself, “Right, yeah, I just didn't want to assume.”

Ginny's eyes darted back to her captain, curious to how she would react to Sam's statement. All Ginny knew was that if she had been the one to say something like that, she'd likely get a knock to the noggin.

Amelia ran her hand back through her jet black hair and considered Sam's words for a moment before replying in a softer tone than Ginny was used to hearing from her teammate, “Suppose that's kind of sweet actually, compared to your typical egotistical Seeker.”

Ginny couldn't resist the urge to ask, “You mean like yourself?”

“Careful Weasley or you'll be riding the pine before you know it,” Amelia quipped back authoritatively.

“You wish you could bench me,” Ginny replied easily as she lightly shoved Amelia's shoulder, which only made Amelia grin.

Ginny quickly realized Sam had gone back to being completely quiet. It took awhile, getting to the point where you could battle back against Amelia as though it were your standard everyday banter.

Ginny decided to move things along and briefed them on what to expect, “So it's your standard signing session really, there's a couple tables set-up out there with our respective team's sigils on them and we'll each have stacks of our headshots to sign, but we told the students they can bring another item to have signed as well whether it be their broom or whatever fan gear they may have. Try to keep the line moving, but be sure to take the time to be friendly, Amelia.”

Amelia glared at Ginny playfully for calling her out before adding, “I'll try.”

Ginny ignored her and asked, “Any questions?”

When nobody made a sound, she clapped her hands together and said, “Right, let's get to it then. Follow me, Headmaster McGonagall will meet us out front.”

Ginny looked over her shoulder to see Amelia pull Sam's arm back towards her and, as Ginny rounded the corner out of the office, she could just make out Amelia saying, “For the record, you'd be hard to forget, even if you weren't a killer Seeker.”

Ginny smirked to herself, today was going along right as planned thus far.

McGonagall indeed met them at the tunnel entrance to the pitch to shake hands and thank them for coming. They presented her with a scarf bearing the Holyhead Harpies logo on one half in green fabric and the Appleby Arrows logo on the other half with blue fabric. They had each signed their respective side, and McGonagall's face lit up when they presented it to her before she immediately straightened herself into a reserved smile and announced it would make a perfect addition to her office wall decor.

McGonagall then led them out to the tables and chairs that had been arranged for them. The stadium erupted into cheers the second they entered into sight and the group smiled and waved to the crowd. McGonagall briefly addressed the students reminding them to behave orderly and respectfully or they'll lose their privileges.

**…**

Three hours later, and the lines were starting to wind their way down. Ginny was pretty beat, but very happy with all the smiling students they were responsible for. It was an accomplishment that Ginny found fulfilling, much like the continued improvement she noted at quidditch practices.

Ginny scanned her surroundings while she took a quick break to stretch her signing hand. She spotted Hermione talking with what had to be a first year student. She was so tiny compared to the other students and seemed to be visibly upset as she slouched over in her Ravenclaw robes. Ginny started to grow concerned, but knew Hermione would be able to handle whatever was going on.

She returned her focus to the student in front of her and smiled as she greeted him, gave him a signed headshot, and signed his broomstick for him. By the time she glanced back off to the side, Hermione and the girl were out of sight.

However, ten minutes later, Ginny was surprised when she looked up to find Hermione standing before her in line, seemingly alone. Hermione grinned a little awkwardly as she scanned Ginny up and down and said, “Hi there.”

Ginny raised her eyebrows and was about to mention that the session was primarily meant for students when she saw the same Ravenclaw girl from earlier peer around Hermione shyly.

Ginny suddenly understood and waved as she said, “Hi” to the student, who quickly went back to hiding behind Hermione.

Ginny met Hermione's eyes and they smiled at each other before Hermione said, “Tabitha here and I were just talking about how you're our favorite quidditch player. I asked her to stand in line with me so I wouldn't have to wait alone, and she was kind enough to help me out.”

Ginny smiled knowingly at Hermione and replied, “Is that right?”

Hermione answered, “Sure is. Right, Tabitha?” The slender girl peeked around Hermione once again and nodded her agreement. Before she could hide her face, Ginny said, “Thanks for being such a great supporter, Tabitha, and for keeping Professor Granger company in line. That was very sweet of you. Would you like an autograph?” When the girl remained quiet, Hermione smiled again and signaled they would take one by raising her index finger in the air.

Ginny wrote out a note to the student and signed it. When Ginny looked up and saw that Hermione was turned towards Tabitha, she couldn't resist the opportunity to have a bit of fun with the situation. She hastily grabbed another headshot and scribbled:

_To: Professor Granger_

_Since you were too shy to ask._

She stifled a laugh as she finished by adding her signature underneath.

Ginny then hid it beneath the photo she signed for Tabitha and said “Here you ladies go,” with a smile as she handed the signed photos to Hermione.

Tabitha finally spoke to timidly say, “Thank you.”

Ginny replied, “You're so welcome. Have a great day.” She then shared another quick smile with Hermione before the two departed.

Ginny kept an eye on Hermione as she walked off so she could see Hermione's reaction when she discovered the additional photo Ginny gave her. She had just handed over a signed headshot to the next student in line when she saw Hermione's head whip around to look back at Ginny. Hermione shook her head as she held the signed photo in the air and chuckled. Ginny simply shrugged in response. She then smirked and winked at Hermione on a whim before quickly burying her head to sign the next photo in hopes of hiding how red she felt her face go.

**…**

After the session ended, McGonagall shook their hands in thanks again and when she reached Ginny, she added, “You did a good thing here today, Weasley.”

“Thanks, Headmaster,” Ginny said with a smile. She could tell McGonagall was proud of her, and it was a great feeling.

Afterwards, Amelia and Brooks took off while Sam and Ginny stopped off at Ginny's room to drop their things before heading to Hogsmeade for dinner and drinks as planned.

On their way out of Ginny's room, they bumped into Hermione.

Ginny felt herself immediately flush, both by how it may look for her and Sam to be leaving her room together and still running hot as a repercussion of her impulsive wink earlier.

Sam proved to be the effective conversationalist in this situation as she said, “Hermione, good to see you. Want to join us in Hogsmeade for dinner?”

Hermione responded, “Hi, Sam. Thanks for the invite, but you two go and enjoy. I've got some work to get caught up on.”

Sam continued, “Too bad, next time?”

“Sure, sounds good” Hermione replied with a genuine smile.

“See you around,” Hermione added in Ginny's direction as she continued down the hall to her room.

“Looking forward to it,” Ginny replied after her before she could stop herself.

Hermione muttered her password and glanced back down the hall at Ginny, who was still watching her. They smiled briefly at each other before Hermione disappeared into her room.

Ginny turned back towards Sam and said, “What?” in reply to the intrigued look Sam was giving her.

“Nothing,” Sam answered, but her amused grin said otherwise, and Ginny knew she hadn't heard the end of the matter.

In fact, it was the first topic of conversation Sam brought up once they were seated at the Three Broomsticks and received their first round of drinks.

Sam asked, “So how's it going with your girlfriend?

Ginny, who had been in the middle of thinking about how adorable Hermione looked while covering for the shy Ravenclaw student earlier, replied in a panicky manner, “What? Who?”

Sam only laughed as she answered, “Hermione, you know who. Glad to see you've resolved your lover's quarrel.”

Ginny shook her head in confusion as she questioned, “Lover's quarrel?”

Sam swiftly replied, “I saw you two bickering in your parents' backyard like an old married couple. You realize their flat has windows, right?”

Ginny quickly assured, “It was nothing, and we're just colleagues, that's all.”

Sam repeated, “Just colleagues,” before continuing, “And do 'just colleagues' regularly attend your family's birthday celebrations or?”

Ginny felt her patience growing short as the conversation had her quickly growing more and more uncomfortable. She grumbled and informed, “It's complicated.”

Sam fully called her bluff and said, “Mhmm, okay. Well she's cute, and I think she likes you. You should go for it.”

Ginny heard herself start to get snippy, “You don't even know what you're saying.”

Sam kept on, “How so?”

Ginny stared down at the table as she explained, “She was engaged to Ron when he-” Ginny trailed off knowing Sam would catch her drift.

Sam's tone changed completely as she apologized, “Oh fuck, sorry. I didn't know.”

Ginny nodded and said, “It's fine,” and she hoped that would be the end of it.

Unfortunately, Sam's curiosity continued on, “What was up with you two then? Is she a jerk or something?”

Ginny answered honestly, “Not in the slightest. She's actually kind of amazing.”

Sam grew visibly confused as she asked, “Okay so what's the problem? Hold on, you don't?”

Ginny knew what Sam was suggesting and tried to shut it down, “Don't be stupid.”

Her efforts were unsuccessful, and Sam continued to tease, “No way, you totally do. Damn Ginny, you dirty dog.”

Ginny quickly became defensive as she demanded, “Shut up, Sam. I'm not kidding.”

Sam registered Ginny's seriousness and her face changed as she asked, “Wait, are you guys _actually_ -”

Ginny cut in, “Nothing's going on.”

Sam quickly identified the gap of Ginny's statement, “But something _was_ going on? Just talk to me bud, seriously.” Her voice carried concern for her friend, and it made Ginny question if it might actually be good for her to talk to someone about this.

Ginny knew Sam could be trusted, but still she was reluctant to speak on the matter. It would be the first time she ever talked to someone other than Hermione about what happened that night. After taking pause to consider if she would really allow them to discuss this further, she finally groaned and warned, “I can't believe I'm about to tell you this. You can't say a word.”

Sam reassured what Ginny already knew, “You can trust me, I'd never spread your business.”

Ginny drew in a breath to steady herself and then finally admitted, “We might have, _you know_ , once. Years ago.”

Sam seemed to suddenly discern something, “Holy shit, she's the one, isn't she?”

Ginny sought clarification, “The one?”

Sam explained, “The one you were stuck on when we met. I knew you were hung up on someone, I could just tell.”

Ginny thought back on their failed romantic relationship and furrowed her brow as she apologized, “Sorry.”

Sam quickly assured, “Mate it's fine, plenty happy with where we are now. Being friends is a really good look for us. Maybe too good even, seems to be the talk of the town if you haven't noticed. But it is her, _isn't_ it?”

Ginny was surprised at her friend's ability to read her so well and piece this all together. She wouldn't insult Sam by lying to her, so she answered, “Maybe.”

Sam's eyes widened as she processed and continued, “Wow okay, so what are you going to do?”

Ginny quickly replied, “Nothing, what _can_ I do?”

Sam thought a moment then asked, “I mean, have you talked to her about things?”

“Kind of,” Ginny responded.

Sam pressed on, “And? How'd it go?”

Ginny thought back to her conversation with Hermione and grimaced slightly as she recalled, “Well she said it was a misunderstanding and mistake we made when we were practically kids. So there's that.”

Sam nodded slowly and continued, “And, you said?”

Ginny's face fell further as she recalled, “That what we did was repugnant.”

Ginny didn't need Sam's reply to confirm it wasn't great, but alas, Sam facepalmed and said, “Yep, that sounds about right. You have no game whatsoever.”

Ginny argued back, “Well it was! She was engaged to my brother for Christ's sake.”

Sam offered, “She's not anymore though.”

Ginny fired back, “Because he's dead.”

Sam didn't sound convinced, “Are you sure that's the only reason? She was getting pretty jealous over you the other day.”

Ginny scrunched her face up and questioned, “Jealous?”

Sam smirked and informed, “She glared at me repeatedly until I backed way off of you.”

Ginny shook her head and explained, “Nah that's just her face. She's a broody one at times.”

Sam chuckled and advised, “Whatever you say, Ginny. I think you should talk to her again and try being honest about your feelings this time.”

Ginny quickly shut that idea down, “Not going to happen, and enough on this. Tell me about you and Amelia. Any progress there? You know I brought her just for you. Well, and the students, but also for you.”

Sam quickly called Ginny out for changing the topic, “Fine, I'll let you deflect, but you can talk to me about it, okay? If you ever need someone to listen, I've got you.”

Ginny smiled back while Sam went a bit red as she recalled, “And, well, considering the event started with me introducing myself to her when we've played against each other multiple times and ended with her leaving with Brooks, I'd wager it went pretty well overall.”

Ginny quickly pointed out, “You're leaving out the part where she pulled you in and told you you're unforgettable.”

Sam gulped and asked, “You heard that?”

Ginny laughed and confirmed, “Sure did. And I'm telling you she's very much only interested in women. I think her and Brooks are old friends, I wouldn't overthink it.”

Sam replied, “I guess,” before seeming to not take Ginny's advice and trail off into thought.

Ginny shook her head and said, “It's kind of endearing how shy you get when you like someone, wonderful change to your normal, obnoxious self actually.”

Sam snapped back, “Ha-ha. You're hilarious.” She then added seriously, “I might actually have an idea though.”

Ginny smiled in anticipation as she said, “Please continue.” She had listened to Sam gush over Amelia for the better part of the last six months, and she was definitely willing to help connect the two women.

Sam started with a question, “So you know how the league's annual Quidditch Gala is coming up?

Ginny smiled a little wider, “Yup, go on.”

**...**

Sam picked up her belongings from Ginny's room, and Ginny led her to the school's main entrance. After saying goodbye and watching Sam speed off on her broom, Ginny should have retired to her room for the evening. Except she couldn't, she had this nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that had only grown throughout the day.

Ginny sighed because she knew she was starting to lose control. The headshot charade, the wink, the comment about looking forward to seeing Hermione around, shamelessly watching Hermione walk away down the hall to her room and then not even bothering to glance away when Hermione caught her looking. She was slipping, and it needed to stop. Her talk with Sam only made matters worse. _Was_ Hermione jealous that day at the Burrow? If she was, that would mean..., but it wasn't possible, and Ginny couldn't allow herself to get caught up in this type of thinking. It would only bring trouble.

Ginny knew she would continue to dwell on things in her room, so she instead closed the castle door behind her and headed out into the night. Her feet led her along the familiar path down to the Black Lake. She hadn't been back to the spot since arriving on campus, and for some reason it sounded like a good place to escape to.

The evening air was cool and Ginny felt herself shiver slightly when a strong breeze would strike. At the same time, she welcomed the physical discomfort, anything to take her mind off of, _Hermione_ , Ginny registered as she approached their old meeting spot and realized she wasn't the only one who had identified this place as a good hideout.

Hermione was standing along the lake's bank, and she was exhibiting an impressive display of magical abilities. Not that Ginny ever had even the slightest doubt in Hermione's skill level, it was simply that she hadn't witnessed Hermione partake in magic of this scale in years. Her skill set had only grown over time, and Ginny watched in awe as Hermione crafted scene after scene of blue flames darting about over the lake.

Ginny thought, _So this is how you let off steam,_ as she smirked to herself and watched in admiration.

First there was a massive phoenix circling the water, its large wings flapping elegantly. Then, it dove down beneath the water's surface, thereby extinguishing itself. Seconds later, the flames reemerged in the form of a pod of dolphins sporadically leaping out and back into the water. The flames again disappeared, before a family of otters catapulted into the air. Ginny smiled when Hermione spent more time with the otters, clearly having a bond with the animal as evidenced in how her Patronus manifests itself. The otters sprung to and fro and performed flawless flips while in the air.

While Ginny was quickly becoming entranced by what she was witnessing, she didn't want to gawk, and she definitely didn't want to disturb Hermione, so she slowly began to back away.

As Ginny made for her retreat, she couldn't help but think of how profoundly amazing the woman before her was. From her sheer brilliance, to her mastery of spellcasting, to her bravery in being honest with Molly, which Ginny hadn't been able to do yet, to her passion for learning and teaching, it all equated to Ginny being unequivocally and utterly fucked. She couldn't turn off her feelings for Hermione. The best she could do was to try to hide them, and hopefully do a far better job than she had today.

Ginny's depth of thought caused her to lose focus on her movements, and she paid the price by stumbling over a protruding tree root before landing on her other foot and loudly snapping a branch which had found its way onto the path leading up to the lake. Ginny looked up from her misstep to see Hermione's otters erupt into flames due to Hermione's focus being broken when Ginny had surely startled her. Ginny's eyes widened as the blue flames made wild movements and seemed to seek freedom as they shot up into the sky.

Ginny saw Hermione quickly furrow her brow and flex her jaw as she bit down and confidently regained control. The flames began circling a central point and it was as though they wound themselves together into a perfect sphere, a sphere which was then hurled in Ginny's direction, only finally coming to a halt mere feet in front of her. The entire front side of Ginny's body was instantly warmed and she held up a hand to shield from the bright light emitted by the light blue flames.

Ginny ignored the panic that was prodding the back of her neck like needles because she knew Hermione had control of the situation and wouldn't actually attack without reason. She composed herself and barked as nonchalantly as possible, “Careful now, Professor, you're playing with fire.”

Hermione replied, “Ginny is that you? What are you doing sneaking about campus in the dark?” She then recalled the blue orb back towards herself and, once it reached her, she cast out the flame up and out in all directions, effectively sending the blue flames to be safely housed within the previously empty lanterns surrounding the lake. Hermione then smartly added, “Besides, seems like a body of water would be the most responsible place to do so.”

Ginny smirked and agreed, “Fair point. And I wasn't sneaking around, I just spotted you and didn't want to disturb you so I was heading off. Speaking of which, I'll leave you to it.”

Hermione didn't respond, she instead took a seat along the bank and watched the blue lantern lights reflecting off of the water. Ginny resisted the urge to say something that might lead to her staying and turned to leave. But then Hermione finally spoke, “Want to sit?”

Ginny stumbled on her words, “Oh, uh, no, all good. Don't want to intrude on your evening.”

Hermione patted the ground next to her and replied, “Come on, it's fine. You're not bothering me.”

Ginny took a pause and knew she should hightail it. This was the complete opposite of what she was supposed to be accomplishing right now. Ginny sighed when Hermione looked back over her shoulder and nodded so as to beckon Ginny over. She finally cracked and asked, “What are you doing out here at this hour?” as she approached Hermione and sat beside her.

Hermione looked down into the dark water and dryly said, “Oh you know, just having a bit of fun while taking a break from questioning all of my life decisions thus far.”

Ginny nodded, “Yeah, I get that, but you know you're doing pretty damn well for yourself right? Especially with everything that you've been through.”

Ginny instantly reprimanded herself, _Fuck, what are you doing right now?_

Hermione seemed to be thinking along the same lines and asked, “Why are you being so nice to me? I've been kind of awful.”

She sounded disappointed in herself, and Ginny didn't think it was fair to let her speak that way and go unopposed, so she replied, “You're not awful, you're working through some stuff, just like the rest of us.”

Hermione glanced over at Ginny and continued, “Still doesn't answer why though, you'd have every reason to want nothing to do with me. **”**

Ginny felt the words escape her mouth and knew it was an error immediately, “I guess it's because I care about you.” She instantly thought, _Seriously, Ginny?_ _Rein it in, geez._

Hermione remained quiet for a moment before asking, “You do?”

Ginny looked out into the dark forest surrounding the lake and murmured, “Of course.”

Hermione's voice sounded sincere as she said, “Thank you for checking on me at the Burrow the other day. I was kind of unraveling.”

Ginny continued to stare off into the distance, but she smirked because she knew it would be the closest thing Ginny would get to Hermione admitting she had saved both their asses that day. She quietly assured, “It's nothing.”

Hermione softly disagreed, “It's not nothing, Gin. I really appreciate it.”

Ginny could sense this was headed into dangerous territory, so she tried to downplay everything and shrugged as she said, “Not a problem.”

However, internally, Ginny's mind began to race, _If it's not nothing, does that mean it's something? What sort of something is it?_ And, once again, her thoughts were going to places she had specifically meant to avoid that night.

Ginny jumped at Hermione's touch when the brunette's hand landed lightly on her thigh unexpectedly. Ginny quickly readjusted to move herself a little further away.

Hermione looked mortified as she apologized, “Shit, I'm sorry. God I keep fucking this up and making you uncomfortable.”

Ginny felt awful for causing that to be Hermione's takeaway and she spoke choppily as her internal and audible voices battled, “No it's not,” _Stop now,_ “It's not that,” _Don't be an idiot,_ “I just-”, _Don't you dare say it._

Ginny ultimately fell silent as she looked into Hermione's eyes, almost hoping the other woman would be able to read her mind so that she wouldn't have to vocalize her feelings.

After a moment Hermione slowly started to ask, “Ginny, could it be possible that-”

Suddenly there was a loud rustling behind them quickly followed by barking as multiple sets of footsteps drew near. A familiar, deep voice loudly rang out, “Who's out there?”

Soon a bright light was shining in their faces, and they were officially spotted. The same voice said, “Hermione, Ginny? Blimey I thought you two were a couple of kids necking down by the lake.”

“Well, that's positively preposterous!” Hermione replied defensively.

Ginny looked over at Hermione and realized in doing so that their hands were linked. They must have grabbed each other when they were startled by Hagrid's arrival. Ginny lightly squeezed Hermione's hand before releasing it so as not to heighten the insecurity Ginny caused by lurching away from Hermione's touch moments prior. It made Hermione glance down to where their hands had been joined before facing back to Hagrid.

Hagrid only chuckled and said, “Meant no offense, Professor. Since you two clearly _aren't_ a pair of troublemakers up to no good out here, what do you say to coming by mine for a drink? I've just finished brewing my own batch of ale.”

Soon they were huddled around the table in Hagrid's hut talking about anything and everything from magical creatures to quidditch season predictions to the recent developments in Ministry of Magic politics.

They were accompanied by Earl, Hagrid's current pet Boarhound, and Ginny chuckled to herself at the way Earl would happily tip his head sideways into her hand when she scratched behind his ears.

She glanced up wearing a grin to point it out to the group, but Hermione had already taken notice and was smiling at the pairing. When Hermione realized Ginny had looked up, she quickly tore her eyes away in Hagrid's direction and adamantly nodded in agreement to his statement about how a Graphorn would make a great addition to the Black Lake. In the end, Ginny decided not to comment on how cute Earl was being.

**…**

After an hour or so, Hermione and Ginny decided to head back to the castle with a promise to make this type of visit a regular occurrence.

They walked in silence for a good portion of their journey back to the Professors' block, both wrapped up in their own thoughts. When they finally arrived before Ginny's door, it was Hermione who spoke first, “That was really great, what you did for the kids today with the signing.”

Ginny gave a small smile and replied, “Wanted to do something nice is all.”

“Well you succeeded,” Hermione confirmed.

Ginny smirked and teased, “You're just glad you finally got my autograph, aren't you?”

Hermione chuckled and said, “You caught me.”

They smiled at each other and Ginny became painfully aware of their close proximity. She could reach out right now to touch Hermione's shoulder, to trace along the outline of her jaw, to take Hermione's hand in her own, to pull her in and kiss her. She shook herself from her thoughts and held out her arm, opting for a handshake. It was the only thing she could trust herself to not make awkward.

Hermione gave her a quizzical look and Ginny supplied an explanation, “To prevent further head injury.”

Hermione went a bit red as she likely recalled their recent failed hug attempt.

Ginny felt bad that her comments and actions were making Hermione question herself as it wasn't her intention, so she quickly added, “Maybe we can work our way back up to a hug though.”

Hermione gave Ginny a look that scared her, a look of recognition. She then reached out and took Ginny's outstretched hand in her own as she said, “Sounds like a plan.”

Their grip lingered and Ginny knew she should pull back, but she couldn't bring herself to.

Ginny's eyes fell to Hermione's lips and when they darted back up to meet Hermione's gaze, there it was again, that same look of recognition.

It was Hermione who finally moved away as she smirked and said, “Well, goodnight Superstar.” Hermione then sent Ginny a wink that mirrored Ginny's from earlier that day.

“Yeah, night,” Ginny whispered back, her voice hoarse and her breathing deep. Thankfully, Hermione had already made her way off towards her own room and didn't witness Ginny's affected state.

Ginny mumbled her password, opened the door, and basically dove into her room.

_Fuck,_ she thought as she closed the door and heavily slumped her body back against it.

Ginny reached two conclusions that night: The first being that Hermione wasn't the _only_ one playing with fire, and the second being that Hermione was right, whatever was going on between them was _definitely_ not nothing.


	9. Ups and Downs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When pleasantries become painful, Hermione eventually speaks up.

** Hermione POV **

Hermione closed the door to her room and let out a deep breath as she smiled to herself. She had seen Ginny's eyes on her lips. She had noticed the changes in Ginny's breathing and the way she struggled with her words when the two of them were close. She had seen Ginny watch her walking off down the hall, she had seen Ginny's wink. Those signs were plain as day, and they meant that Ginny wanted her deep down, at least to some extent. This knowledge sparked a flicker of hope in her, and the potential implications made her heart race.

But then again, she reminded herself of the hesitation, the flinching at her touch, the uncertainty in Ginny's actions, and the fear in Ginny's eyes. She knew Ginny didn't have a full understanding of their history and thus the current situation. She also knew that Ginny was worried about taking advantage of her. God, she _wished_ Ginny would 'take advantage of her'. 

And so, Hermione felt stuck. Ginny wasn't going to make the first move, that much seemed evident, and Hermione already felt as though she had embarrassed herself plenty between her several failed advances since Ginny had arrived to Hogwarts. They were going to have to talk, like _actually_ talk, about things if there was any chance of this going further. And even then, it wasn't likely that Ginny would give it a shot. With all odds heavily against her, Hermione decided to do what any responsible adult would do when working and living in close proximity to someone they're extremely attracted to, absolutely nothing unless (more like until) things blew up in their face. 

And Hermione's suspicions were right, Ginny didn't confess any feelings or attraction to Hermione at their next meeting, nor the next, nor anytime over the following weeks. Ginny did exactly the same thing Hermione was doing, absolutely nothing. Apparently there were two responsible adults at work here.

It wasn't as difficult to do nothing when they were apart, when Ginny was off-site for Harpies training or events. Hermione did her best to pretend like Ginny didn't even exist. With some practice, she learned to not keep track of Ginny's schedule, to not count the days down in between her visits to campus. And sure there would be those times where the Gryffindor quidditch team would ask if Hermione knew when Ginny would be back or McGonagall would see if Ginny had indicated whether or not she was interested in staying at Hogwarts beyond the current school year and the mere mention of Ginny's name would make her infuriated. Afterwards, she would allow herself a cooling down period before carrying on as though everything was fine, because it was. She had everything under control. 

Distance paled in comparison to how difficult it was to do nothing when Ginny was around her. When she saw Ginny sneaking glances her way, which she stubbornly ignored. When Ginny would return to campus and ask how Hermione was doing and not just in a surface level way where you have to reply good. When she held the door to the Great Hall open for Hermione even when she was a ways down the hallway still, allowing a large cluster of students to go through before Hermione even made it to the door. When she would accidentally make eye contact with Ginny and watch how it would linger until Hermione would get irritated and break it. It was like her own personal form of torture. 

All through November and into December they danced around each other on tiptoes. Hermione became more and more frustrated at Ginny's obvious avoidance of what was going on between them. As a result, Hermione became more distant, sometimes skipping situations altogether when she knew Ginny would be present. It was excruciating to feel herself being drawn to Ginny like a magnet, all the while knowing if she got too close, Ginny would recoil.

And then it happened, she reached her breaking point. She had intentionally not been following the goings-on of Ginny's personal life nor any sort of media publication about Ginny, but then there it was. A student dropped a magazine from their bag on their way out of her office and Hermione floated it up to her hand to return it. Smiling and waving back at Hermione were Ginny and Sam, dressed to the nines. The headline read:  _ Great Britain's Favorite Quidditch Couple Dazzles at Annual Professional Quidditch Gala.  _ Hermione couldn't return it back into the fourth year's possession fast enough.  _ That explains where Ginny has been off to this time then, _ Hermione thought as she quickly became enraged. 

It wasn't that she didn't believe Ginny about her and Sam just being friends. She did trust Ginny, on this matter or otherwise. No, what got to her was how their arms were looped through each others like Ginny had escorted Sam into the event, much the same way Ginny had escorted Hermione to the school ball their seventh year of Hogwarts. It was how relaxed their smiles looked, as if their being together only brought joy and not a side serving of misery. It was how easily they could be together if they wanted to, when Hermione and Ginny's relationship was, at best, complicated. Her cooling down period took extra long that day.

Hermione realized Ginny had returned to Hogwarts the following day when she saw her entering the Great Hall for lunch. Hermione couldn't help but stare hard at her for a few solid moments when she first spotted her. Of course, the second Ginny's head swiveled in her direction, Hermione looked away and refused to look back for the entire course of the meal. And as soon as lunch had concluded, Hermione took off like a bat out of hell. She also took her dinner from her room that evening. 

Hermione hated this. The castle was so festive for the upcoming Christmas holiday, with garland, holly, and wreaths adorning the walls while trees complete with lights and ornaments were scattered about. To feel as empty as Hermione did while the world around her was so jovial and bright exacerbated her poor mood. Desperate for some form of reprieve, she sauntered up to the Astronomy Tower. This part of the castle was typically off-limits outside of class times, but being a professor had its privileges. She crept into the empty stargazing room and set her things up to begin working. There were no seasonal decorations taunting her here, only models of planets, constellation charts, telescopes, and stone walls. It was perfect.

Just as she was starting to settle in and make headway with her lesson plan for the following week, Hermione heard steps ascending the stairs leading up the tower. She rolled her eyes in anticipation of the impending inconvenience and prepared herself to deal with what would likely be Filch demanding to know who had the audacity to be in the tower outside of school hours. It was fine, she'd handle it. At the end of the day, she knew McGonagall wouldn't give a damn about her finishing her lesson plan up here. Unfortunately, the disturbance that happened upon her was far more annoying than an overbearing caretaker.

That familiar flash of red hair swished into the room, and Ginny's voice soon followed upon spotting Hermione, “There you are, I've had my eye out for you since you rushed off after lunch.” Ginny's voice was cheery and Hermione knew that if she looked up she'd see an obnoxious smile on her face to match it.

And even though Hermione knew deep down that seeing Ginny smile would make her want to smile back, and even though her heart fluttered at Ginny's comment, Hermione forced herself to respond, “What for?” as disinterestedly as possible as she stood and started immediately packing her things to leave.

“Wanted to see how you're doing is all,” Ginny answered casually.

Hermione stopped moving, stood up straight, and closed her eyes for a moment to counteract what had become a trigger of fury as of late. She then replied, “I'm grand. Thought it might have been something more significant though, to have you searching the castle over for me.”

Ginny pleasantly tried to explain, “Wasn't searching all over, McGonagall mentioned she saw you head off in this direction. She actually asked me to-” 

Hermione cut in coolly, “So now you're asking the headmaster of my whereabouts?”

“What? No, I just mentioned I was going to check-in with you and she- What's your deal?” Ginny asked as she surely recognized Hermione's demeanor was anything but welcoming.

Hermione knew why Ginny was here. Ginny missed her while she was away. She wanted to catch up, she wanted to be near her. And Hermione wanted that too. Except then things between them would reach their boiling point like they always did, which would result in Ginny pulling away, and Hermione going back to feeling completely hollow. And she just couldn't deal with all the ups and downs anymore. 

So instead Hermione snapped, “My deal? I don't have a deal. I have a lesson plan that I'm working on, or _was_ working on before you interrupted rather, but no deal.”

Ginny's face fell and Hermione knew she had hurt her. Ginny's voice only further confirmed this point as she said, “Sorry I asked, I'll leave you be.” She then turned and made off towards the same door she entered through minutes earlier.

Here she was again, in another impossible situation to try and navigate. Ginny seeking her out, wanting to be near Hermione without addressing why that's the case. Without expressing how she feels. It was too much for Hermione, and she had let her frustrations get the better or her. She bit her tongue, too stubborn to apologize, and noted Ginny was almost out the door. Hermione should just let her go, she had hurt Ginny's feelings by being dismissive, and it would make Ginny keep her distance at least for a little while, which is what would be easier, what would probably be best.

But then she saw that stupid picture of Ginny and Sam flash in her mind, and before she knew it, the words came rushing out, “How was the gala? I must say you and Sam looked dashingly dapper on the cover of Witch Weekly.”

Hermione winced in self-disgust. She was being petty, and she was being unfair.

Ginny stopped in her tracks and Hermione knew she was inferring that jealousy over Sam was causing Hermione to act this way. It was the logical conclusion considering she hadn't talked to Ginny about how she had been feeling these last few weeks (not to mention the last few years).

Ginny spun around and looked at Hermione dissapointedly, “That's what this is about then, isn't it?”

Hermione only grumbled and crossed her arms. She had successfully dug herself into a hole. If she said yes, Ginny would think she was jealous and didn't trust her. If she said no, Ginny would want to know what the heck was going on if it wasn't about Sam. Neither option was good. And avoiding predicaments of this sort was exactly why she had hiked all the way up here to be alone in the first place.

Unsurprisingly, Ginny didn't let up. Hermione knew Ginny was big on trust, and she had every reason to be frustrated by how Hermione was treating her. Hermione must have missed something Ginny said as she tried to figure a way out of this, because Ginny sounded angrier still as she demanded, “What have you got against Sam? She's been nothing but nice to you. Just when I thought you were past this you've got to go off again.” 

Hermione still didn't utter a single word and Ginny was near fury as she insisted, “Come on, let's hash it out now because I don't want to hear about this again. I'm serious.”

It happened again, the words pouring out of Hermione's mouth. Only this time she was actually speaking her mind, “She gets the chance to be with you!” 

Hermione quickly realized, _Nope, that came out wrong. She's going to think that-_

“Dammit, Hermione! I'm going to say this for what had better be the last time, Sam and I are _not_ together. She was going to be at the gala anyways, and I only brought her as my plus-one so she would be seated with me at my team's table because she's interested in a teammate of mine. I was trying to help link them up, which went splendidly I might add,” Ginny said as she glared at Hermione.

“That's not-” Hermione started, and she then took a steadying breath because she knew this was about to get real. Her voice wavered as she clarified, “You _could_ be together. If she's spotted out with you, people get excited about it and the press write about it. And if you wanted to be together you could.”

Ginny's face scrunched up in annoyance as she asked, “Why does that bother you so much when you know nothing's going on? It doesn't mean anything.“

Hermione stubbornly supplied only a one word answer, “Because.“

Ginny refused to fill in any blanks for Hermione, and only raised her eyebrows and slightly shook her head for further clarification.

“Because I want that,” Hermione admitted to the floor.

To this, Ginny jumped into a rant, “You want the press to follow you around and speculate who you're dating? I promise it's not the least bit fun, especially when they decide it's your best mate so then every time you try to have a casual get-together there's an article about it. I'd trade fame for anonymity any day. Besides they probably _would_ write about you more if you didn't stay so far off the grid with your nose in a book all the time.”

“You're such an idiot sometimes, I swear,” Hermione replied incredulously, her eyes on Ginny now.

Ginny huffed, “Well that's just plain rude.”

Hermione held up a hand to hush Ginny as she explained, “I don't want the press following me around, I want _you!_ I want to be able to be with you. I want things between us to not be so messy and complicated and impossible.”

Ginny's eyes went wide at the news for a second before her face stalled back into neutral without responding.

After a moment Hermione asked, “Will you say something please?”

Ginny turned away and ran her hand through her hair as she questioned, ”What am I supposed to say to that?”

Hermione became impatient at having been open with Ginny only to be met with closedness, “How you feel, for once, perhaps?”

Ginny seemed taken aback. She then furrowed her brow and concluded, “I'm not sure if how I feel matters much in the end.”

Hermione had come too far to back down now, so she pressed on, “But you do feel something for me?”

It was then that Hermione noticed how Ginny's eyes looked heavy, as though emotion she had been hiding stepped into the light. Her voice was weak as she begged, “Stop, please, this is only going to make things harder.”

But Hermione was done with dodging the topic, and she didn't let up in tone or tempo, “So you're fine with how things are now then?”

“Mione,” Ginny warned.

“Gin,” Hermione pleaded upon realizing she still wasn't breaking through Ginny's defenses.

Ginny's face began to appear frantic as she spoke, “I can't, do this. I don't-,” before trailing off and looking away.

“Don't what?” Hermione pushed forward relentlessly.

Ginny's posture sank as she finally spoke her truth, “I don't deserve this, you. Not after what I did.”

Hermione quickly and sternly corrected, “What _we_ did, Ginny.”

Ginny only sighed tiredly, “We've discussed this.”

Hermione instantly fired back without thinking, “No, we haven't discussed the fact that I've had feelings for you since seventh year. We haven't discussed that I had been confused for a long time until I finally kissed you that night nor that I'm miserable without you in my life. That I can't stand to think about you with anyone else.” 

And just like that, it was out there. She hadn't meant to reveal it at all, let alone in anger, and she was sure her face exuded the shock to her system she was feeling internally.

Ginny seemed to misread her expression and glumly replied, “You're still confused then, because being around me isn't good for you. This is exactly what I was afraid of.”

Hermione was not about to let this sort of talk start back up, and she quickly clarified, “I'm _not_ confused about my feelings for you. Can you please stop saying that? I don't know exactly where I fall on the spectrum or whatever, but honestly I don't care about that. I care about you, Gin.” 

Hermione knew she needed to get this last bit out before she lost her nerve, so she took a breath, ignored her sweating palms, and continued on before Ginny could reply, “I was going to end things with Ron when he got back into town. I told you this the night we were together.”

Hermione could tell by Ginny's face that this was news to her. And why wouldn't it be? Ginny had no memory of that night and Hermione hadn't exactly been forthcoming with the information when she discussed the matter with Ginny.

Ginny considered Hermione's words and it seemed for a moment that it may have been hitting home, until Ginny shook her head and pointedly responded, “Well he didn't come back, Hermione.” 

Hermione quickly replied, “You're right, he didn't, and I've spent years agonizing over that fact and what happened. But you know what, we're still here, and we have to keep living. If there's potentially something between us, why are we denying it? We made a mistake, does that really mean we don't deserve a shot at happiness?”

Ginny only frowned and said, “Quite possibly, at least probably not together.”

Hermione was growing exasperated, even now with her being open they were still just going around in circles same as before. She felt hurt at being rejected yet again, and it led her to bluntly respond, “I disagree, and I'm done hating myself for this. But you do what you need to do.” 

With that, Hermione finished whipping her last few things into her bag, one by one for dramatic effect, and made to storm off.

Ginny seemed to have reached her tipping point and yelled after Hermione, “Are you fucking serious? Do you know what this has been like for me?”

Hermione tossed her bag aside as she spun back to face Ginny, sending the items she just loaded into it crashing out onto the stone floor, and emphatically said, “Can't say that I do because you won't talk to me about it!”

Ginny finally opened up, and Hermione suspected it was as much to herself as it was to Hermione, “I broke so much trust that night. I broke our trust, I broke Ron's trust, I even broke my own trust. I crossed so many lines.”

Ginny's voice changed as she struggled to continue on, ”You were my best friend and Ron's fiance. I didn't want- I never meant to-.”

It wasn't until Ginny aggressively wiped at her cheeks that Hermione realized a couple tears were streaming down.

It instantly made Hermione soften as she assured, “I know, Gin.”

Ginny shook her head as she finished expressing her train of thought to Hermione, “I ruined everything.”

Hermione took a couple steps towards Ginny and reached out to rest her hand on Ginny's shoulder as she said, “You didn't. This isn't your fault. Ron and I weren't working out, and that was completely independent of my feelings for you.” 

Hermione then countered Ginny's anticipated reply as she added, “And you didn't do anything wrong to make me develop those feelings for you, so don't you even start.”

Despite her solemn state, the corner of Ginny's mouth ticked the slightest bit upwards at Hermione's predicting of her thought process. She was silent a couple moments as things finally seemed to be sinking in. Ginny eventually looked up, nodded slowly, and said, “Okay, I'm sorry. For everything.” 

Hermione recognized the apology was all encompassing of what they've been through the past few years and not a product of continued self-blame, and Hermione was relieved to have finally gotten through to Ginny.

“I'm sorry too,” Hermione responded as she instinctively pulled Ginny into her and wrapped her in a hug.

It took Ginny a couple seconds, during which Hermione began to worry, but she eventually returned the hug and rested her head on Hermione's shoulder. Hermione was almost startled a moment later when Ginny whispered, “I've missed you so much,” as she held Hermione slightly tighter.

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she knew the feeling all too well. Hermione missed Ginny all throughout the three years she was completely out of her life. Now that Ginny was back around, Hermione missed her when she was away from campus even though she knew she would be coming back soon, she missed Ginny when she was in the same room but not in Hermione's arms, she missed Ginny when they spoke without acknowledging the truth of their feelings for each other. She missed Ginny for every second that had passed without Ginny knowing that she loved her, for every second during which she doubted Ginny loved her back, and for every moment that their relationship was less than what it could be, what her heart knew that it should be. 

But instead of saying how much she had missed Ginny too, she comforted her by saying, “It's okay, I'm right here.” And she ran one of her hands though Ginny's hair before resting it on the back of Ginny's head. They stood there like that for a few long moments. Hermione felt Ginny's breathing relax against her and she felt safe with their arms around each other, like they were protecting each other. 

Eventually, Ginny began to slowly lean back. As Ginny's arms unwound from Hermione's waist and began to depart, to return to Ginny's sides, Hermione felt naked. Sad to see it go, she caught Ginny's hand as it passed her by, planting a light kiss on her palm. Hermione then turned Ginny's hand over and kissed the back of it. And it was in doing so that she felt it, desire. She looked down at Ginny's hand as she turned it over and couldn't help but remember what those hands did to her the last time they had been this honest with each other, the last time she had felt this desperate for Ginny's touch.

She wanted Ginny, she wanted her more than ever. She wanted to pull Ginny's index finger into her mouth and suck from the base of it to her fingertip. She wanted to smash their lips together, to rip their clothes off, to taste Ginny, to hear Ginny say her name as she came. But then Hermione remembered how terrible it was waking up next to Ginny when she wasn't okay with what happened between them. And sure, things would be different this time, but Ginny was just coming around to stop blaming herself for everything. It would be too fast, they needed to start from the ground floor and work their way up. So she took a deep breath, kept Ginny's fingers out of her mouth, and instead entwined their hands together as she looked up into Ginny's eyes to see how she was handling all of this.

Ginny's eyes weren't directed to where their hands were interlaced as Hermione had expected, they weren't on Hermione at all. Ginny was currently focused on a spot several feet above them. Confused, Hermione followed Ginny's gaze upwards until she saw it: mistletoe. How it was here, when it had sprung up, Hermione didn't know. But there it was nonetheless. And here she thought the tower was void of this sort of sinister seasonal decor. Hermione instantly worried Ginny would panic and that the progress they had just made together would be ruined. 

Hermione implored, “Just ignore it, we don't have to.” Hermione couldn't even bring herself to say the word 'kiss' because she was so afraid she'd spook Ginny. 

Hermione was shocked when Ginny dryly replied, “You know they say it's bad luck if you don't? Not sure I need any more of that in my life.”

Hermione sarcastically argued back, “Because you've got it so rough?” And while Hermione suspected where Ginny was headed with that statement, she felt the need to establish some perspective what with Ginny being famous, rich, successful, sexy as all hell, the list continues. 

Ginny nodded to indicate Hermione had a point, but she insisted, “In some ways.” She hesitated before clarifying further, “In the way that matters most.”

Hermione's stomach flipped as she asked, “And what is it that matters most, Ginny?” She recognized the echoes of the conversation that led up to their first kiss years ago and she awaited Ginny's answer in anticipation. 

Ginny quietly replied, “You know the answer to that.”

Hermione only nodded her understanding. She knew exactly what Ginny meant. And her breathing hitched as she looked down at Ginny's lips then back up to meet Ginny's eyes again. Hermione's body ached for Ginny's touch, and she was running out of restraint. She didn't want to risk making a move and thereby overwhelming Ginny. But then Ginny inched forward ever so slightly before pausing, as though waiting for Hermione to match her.

Hermione slowly leaned in as she reached out and pushed a couple stray hairs behind Ginny's ear. It proved to slow her racing mind down and gently encourage Ginny simultaneously. Hermione's hand then traced down Ginny's cheek before landing into a light hold on her jaw. She could tell Ginny was breathing deeply, nervously, and it instantly sparked concern for her state of mind.

Hermione looked into Ginny's eyes and softly asked, “Good?” She wouldn't move any closer until she had Ginny's permission and assurance that she was doing okay.

A small smile appeared on Ginny's face as the familiarity of the comment seemed to calm her. While Hermione didn't get a 'great' in reply, Ginny nodded her head in the affirmative. And with that, they slowly moved closer in unison until the space between them had evaporated and their lips met.

They kissed softly, slowly, and Hermione felt like she was floating. Like time wasn't passing. Like she hadn't a care in the world nor a single worry. She had missed Ginny's lips on hers, Ginny's face so close to her own, feeling Ginny's breath on her. She had wanted this, longed for this, hoped for this. And now it was happening. 

Things were different than last time. Ginny wasn't fearless this time, and she wasn't without at least a sliver of uncertainty. But this time Hermione knew Ginny was participating while in full awareness of what was transpiring. And that alone made Hermione beside herself with joy. 

After several seconds Hermione pulled back slightly and looked into Ginny's eyes to gauge her reaction. Ginny smiled, and Hermione lightly pressed their foreheads together. 

“Woah,” Ginny said quietly, experiencing their physical connection for what Hermione knew felt like the first time.

“Yeah,” Hermione whispered knowingly. And something about Ginny's face made Hermione think that maybe Ginny resented the fact she didn't remember their night together now that she had a taste of what them being together would be like. Like she wanted to correct that fact. 

Hermione suddenly felt Ginny's hands on her waist, pulling her into Ginny, hard. Ginny kissed her again, this time with more vigor, and Hermione lost herself in it. They kissed for several minutes. Hermione reveled in feeling Ginny's tongue against her own again, in having Ginny hold her assertively, in having Ginny show her that she wanted her. _Fucking Finally._

But then Ginny marched Hermione backwards until she felt the cold stone wall behind her and Ginny's body pushed right up against her own. Ginny's hands began to roam over her body as she hungrily kissed at Hermione's neck, causing Hermione to moan in anticipation of what was to come. It was her last responsible thought before completely losing control which made her aware that they were moving too fast. 

“Ginny,” Hermione panted as she used her arms to create space between them, very unwanted space.

Ginny looked completely frenzied for a couple seconds before she seemed to come down, taking another step back as she said between heavy breaths, “Sorry, I didn't mean- I got caught up.”

Hermione smiled and explained, “I wanted you to. And while I definitely didn't want us to stop, I think we should probably talk about what's happening here lest we land back at square one.”

Hermione watched the weight of the world come crashing down on Ginny as the reality of the situation hit her. Ginny already looked defeated as she asked , “What are we going to do?” **  
  
** “No idea,” Hermione admitted, “But I'm willing to figure it out, I  _ want _ to figure this out with you. If it's what you want too, that is.”

Ginny pulled at her bottom lip and stared down at the floor as she considered her words. When she glanced back up, Ginny cast a doubtful look at Hermione as she said, “Of course I- but I just don't know that it's possible.”

“Okay,” Hermione replied, and she tried not to look completely crushed. She knew she couldn't push this on Ginny. She couldn't force things along. Ginny had to be right there with her, or this wouldn't work. Hermione knew this was a possibility, a probability even, and that's exactly why she should have just let Ginny walk out the damn door earlier. 

She felt herself begin to breakdown, but just when she thought she might ditch her belongings altogether and flee from the room, Ginny spoke again, “We would have to take things slow.” Hermione could tell the statement was directed as much at herself as it was to Hermione.

And suddenly the two of them being together was possible, and Hermione tried to prevent herself from jumping the gun and beaming too brightly as she replied, “Agreed.”

Ginny seemed to be weighing things out as she reiterated, “Like really slow.”

“That's fine,” Hermione assured, and she meant it. She'd wait as long as Ginny needed, she just needed to know they were moving in the right direction together.

Ginny spoke again as she further stressed her point, “Like a snail.”

Hermione became impatient and said, “Yep, got it the first time, Gin.” She wanted Ginny to say she was in, she needed that assurance so she could finally breathe easily again.

Instead, Ginny's face fell, indicating she was clearly still struggling with the concept. “But then what, would we _tell_ people?” Ginny was visibly stressed at the mere thought of it.

Hermione couldn't sugarcoat this. It was going to be tough, it was going to uncomfortable at times, and some people still wouldn't get it even if they did everything right. She wasn't going to make promises that she knew would be broken. She sighed nervously and said,  
“If things work out then, yes? I would imagine it would eventually make sense to tell people.”

“And until then?” Ginny questioned. At least she wasn't shooting it down outright.

“We could wait?” Hermione offered.

Ginny wasn't getting the assurance she wanted and she became frazzled as she asked, “That's your plan, just wait for an undermined amount of time?”

Hermione replied with, “I guess so, Gin, I don't have a master plan here. This wasn't exactly on my Roles and Responsibilities list for the year.” Hermione concluded her statement with a chuckle, surprising even herself at her own flexibility and tolerance of uncertainty if it meant having a chance with Ginny.

Ginny seemed unnerved by Hermione's admittedly uncharacteristic ease on the topic and lashed out, “Easy for you to say, I do promotional events, interviews, fan greetings. Preseason will be coming up before you know it, and reporters are always asking about our- that type of thing during the league's player showcase series. I'm _not_ a good liar, Hermione, you've seen my feeble attempts. I simply cannot be counted on to 'play it cool' for months on end. Christ and that's not even considering Mum and the fact that she would kill me.”

“Okay, yeah, I get it. Completely understand why you wouldn't want to do this. It's okay, thanks for being honest upfront.” Hermione conceded. Up and down, around and around and yet somehow they had managed to go absolutely-

“Oh no, we're doing this,” came Ginny's reply.

“We are?” Hermione couldn't believe it, and she grinned from ear to ear.

“Trying to anyway. At a snail's pace,” Ginny reminded earnestly. And while her words had been serious, Ginny's face relaxed, and she seemed comfortable with the conclusion. 

“Deal,” Hermione agreed. 

They smiled at each other, until the clock tower suddenly rang out, and Ginny's face dropped as she seemed to have remembered something.

Hermione quickly asked, “What's wrong?”

Ginny bit her lip nervously as she said, “I meant to tell you McGonagall wants to see you in her office once we're through.”

Hermione shrieked, “What?! Ginny, you should have said before.”

Ginny argued in her defense, “I tried, but you cut me off, and then I kinda got distracted.”

Hermione sent Ginny a stern look as she straightened her hair and asked, “Did she say what she wanted?”

Ginny replied, “Not sure, sorry.”

Hermione didn't bother to pick up her belongings off the floor as she rushed out, she simply shook her head at Ginny as she passed and said, “You're lucky you're cute. And for being so distracted you can collect my things. I'll stop by yours to get them afterwards.”

Ginny only chuckled and agreed, “Sure thing, Professor.”

** Ginny POV **

Ginny watched as Hermione hurried out of sight. _What. Just. Happened?_ she questioned upon being left alone with her thoughts. Despite still feeling traces of Hermione on her lips, Ginny recounted the events that had just passed as though remembering something that happened years ago. It was the shock making everything feel so unfamiliar. Her knees felt weak, as though burdened by the heavy range of emotions she experienced within such a short window of time. 

Ginny spotted the moon shining through the far side of the tower's windows, and it drew her over. She leaned her side against the stone wall, and peered out into the clear night sky, a perfect backdrop for her thoughts having finally found some clarity herself. She had spent years conditioning herself to bury her feelings for Hermione, to deny them, to fear them. She had been so afraid of taking advantage of Hermione that she never stopped to seriously consider whether Hermione might actually have feelings for her as well and not just be confused by grief or misplacing her feelings for Ron. 

Ginny watched a likely frigid breeze tear it's way across the world below. The bare trees bent as they yielded to a stronger force, and Ginny's body almost trembled just from watching. Perhaps that's what happened here in this room as well. Perhaps her fear, her sadness, her guilt, and her hesitation finally gave way to a stronger force. And now that they had, Ginny found herself feeling hopeful for the first time in ages. There were challenges ahead, obstacles yet to be overcome, but she felt a quiet assuredness at the prospect of facing the future with Hermione by her side.

**... **

The knock on her door came sooner than anticipated.

Ginny had decided on a quick workout, with the intention to complete it before Hermione's stopping over mind you, to expend some of the energy spurred on by her racing mind. She was forty-five seconds into a side plank when she heard it. She grunted and waved the door open. 

Hermione seemed caught off guard upon spotting her in this state, body much more exposed than usual in her exercise attire. And if her core wasn't completely on fire, she might have smirked and made a snarky comment about how Hermione's eyes roved over her body. She decided there would be time for that soon enough.

“Sh-should I come back later?” Hermione finally asked hesitantly.

At hitting her target time, Ginny collapsed her side into the ground and waited a few seconds to reply as she caught her breath.

Hermione's eyes were wide when Ginny finally stood and said, “No need, come on in.” Hermione had only just taken a step inside, as though worried she had intruded. 

“All good then?” Ginny asked, and it seemed to startle Hermione from her thoughts.

Hermione's eyes bolted from Ginny's fully visible shoulder to meet Ginny's as she said, “Course, why wouldn't I be?”

“No I meant things with McGonagall,” Ginny explained.

“Right, obviously,” Hermione said, “Yeah, just Head of House talk. We'll each take a shift on campus over the holidays for the students that will remain on the premises. So I'll be here the first week, but then free from Christmas Eve on.”

Ginny moved into a final set of push-ups as she said, “That's great.” 

“What is?” Hermione questioned distractedly.

Ginny hopped back up to her full height, and she felt her muscles swell with the glorious pump that came with a tough workout. She took a gulp of water before replying, “The students having someone here with them, for one, but also you being free for the holidays.”

“Sorry, what?” Hermione asked after shaking her head as though to clear her thoughts. Her eyes stayed fixed on Ginny's abs another moment before meeting Ginny's again.

“I said you'll have to drop by the Burrow or Mum will make a scene,” Ginny said. She then added, “But you'll have to be far more convincing.” It wasn't what she had said, but it's what she would have said next, what she wanted to say now rather than repeat herself.

“What do you mean?” Hermione questioned.

“Well, for starters, you can't look at me like that,” Ginny replied.

“Like what?” Hermione asked innocently.

“Like you're undressing me with your eyes,” Ginny smirked.

“So what if I am?” Hermione challenged.

“Goes against our agreement to take things slow, doesn't it?” Ginny was being a brat, but she couldn't help herself. It was too enjoyable to watch Hermione huff when she was irritated, or the tips of her ears turn red when she was embarrassed, or flash that adorable smile when she became nervous.

“Thoughts and looks don't count,” Hermione argued.

“They do when they turn into actions, which I fear we are moments off of after all the looks you've sent my way just now,” Ginny teased.

Hermione only rolled her eyes.

Ginny wasn't ready to let it be, she hadn't gotten enough of a reaction yet, “You go ahead and roll your eyes now, but I'm not the one who couldn't resist showing up to quidditch tryouts on a Saturday so they could check me out the whole time, am I? Not to mention the predisposition to try and kiss me the second they get a little bit tipsy. You'll _definitely_ have to watch that over Christmas.”

Hermione scowled, “Well I'm not the one who took a gig at Hogwarts to Weasley their way back into my life, am I?”

“Is that what you think?” Ginny asked in astonishment, “Wait, did you just turn my last name into a verb?”

“Seems that way- on both counts,” Hermione sassed back with a devious grin.

The two women shook their heads playfully at each other as fire crept up and started to build around them: not visible, but palpable. Their eye contact grew in intensity as teasing had quickly turned into longing now that their underlying feelings were out in the open.

“You're as insufferable as ever,” Ginny said incredulously.

“Well you're unbelievably unbearable, reckon I'm only keeping pace,” Hermione matched without hesitation.

“That's it,” Ginny declared as she leaned forward and scooped Hermione right up off the ground. Hermione shrieked in surprise as Ginny carried her a few paces forward to nowhere in particular.

Hermione soon wrapped her legs around Ginny's waist, and they both started laughing. It wasn't long before Hermione fought back by tickling at Ginny's sides.

“No fair,” Ginny yelled as she desperately spun in a circle in search of an escape. Ginny hurled them sideways onto the bed, effectively breaking them apart and preventing further assault. 

However, Hermione wouldn't be so easily deterred. She quickly sprung herself on top of Ginny and resumed her tickle attack. 

Ginny quickly realized she enjoyed Hermione on top of her, even if she wasn't particularly partial to the tickling. She waited a long moment before easily tipping the scales.

“See, you're already trying to get me into bed with you,” she said victoriously as she now hovered over Hermione.

Rather than continuing to spar verbally, Hermione suddenly leaned forward and kissed Ginny lightly on the lips, surprising Ginny to all hell. The kiss was relatively quick, but still long enough to effectively make Ginny want more.

Ginny froze and stared down at Hermione for a moment before recognizing her play, “I know what you're-”

Hermione silenced her when she popped up and kissed her again.

Ginny shook her head “You think you're being funny, but I'm warn-”

Hermione leaned forward to strike again, but Ginny was ready this time, and lightly caught Hermione's cheek with her right hand while balancing her weight with her left arm, preventing the brunette from reaching her lips.

Hermione's face looked disappointed that her kiss hadn't landed on target.

Ginny decided on a move of her own. She smirked and asked, “Is this what you want?” as she slowly lowered herself until the space between their bodies had been eliminated. Hermione appeared unable to formulate a reply as she leaned back down while keeping her eyes glued to Ginny's, inviting her to come closer. Ginny remained frozen at first, and the only movement between them was their heavy breathing from the contact their bodies were now making. Ginny broke the silence as she chuckled softly, albeit nervously, at clearly having won a point back in whatever ridiculous game they were playing. 

She then slowly moved their faces closer together until she felt Hermione's labored breaths against her lips. “I said, is this what you want?” Ginny asked again. Hermione closed her eyes and leaned in to kiss Ginny, but Ginny moved just out of reach. Hermione opened her eyes and frowned for a brief moment until she caught on, “Yes, I want you to kiss me.”

“Ask nicely,” Ginny demanded. She was enjoying the shift in dynamic, Hermione giving in.

“Please,” Hermione said.

Ginny didn't waste another moment. She leaned back in and claimed Hermione's lips as her own territory. It felt unreal, kissing Hermione, the person she had wanted for as long as she could remember, the person she never thought she could have, the person she thought she had wronged the night they spent together, the night she couldn't remember.

She bit at Hermione's bottom lip and loved the way Hermione sucked in a breath, finding pleasure in the pain. Hermione then rolled Ginny over so she was on top. Ginny didn't mind, she was happy either way. Hermione took Ginny's hands and pinned them above her head as she kissed her deeply. Ginny moaned, though it was muffled by Hermione's mouth against her own. 

At hearing it, Hermione pulled away wearing a satisfied smirk. Ginny flashed a look of confusion.

“You're right, this _is_ going to be difficult to keep under control,” Hermione admitted. And her sly grin announced she was all too aware of the fact that she had pushed Ginny past the point of control,but her breathy voice and flushed face indicated she wasn't exactly immune to the consequences of her own shenanigans. 

Just when she thought she had the upper hand, Ginny had been bested, not that there was really a loser in this scenario. She simply laughed and pulled Hermione down onto the bed beside her. Hermione quickly cuddled into her, resting her head on Ginny's shoulder.

“What am I going to do with you?” Ginny mused.

“Might want to start by asking yourself what you're going to do with the press,” Hermione half-teased.

“You just worry about yourself. Definitely can't be doing _that_ at the Burrow,” Ginny warned.

Hermione only laughed and pressed her lips against Ginny's cheek.

And even though she wouldn't admit it out loud, Ginny knew Hermione was right. She needed some major PR coaching, stat. Luckily, she had an idea, and suddenly she was up on her feet and calling over her shoulder, “I'll be right back, I've got to send an owl really quick.” 


	10. Lessons Learned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny learns she not the only one keeping secrets, and accidentally lets hers slip.

**Ginny POV**

Two days after kissing Hermione in the Astronomy tower, Ginny grabbed a fistful of Floo powder, approached her fireplace, and called out, “Twelve Grimmauld Place.”

She stepped out into the familiar space of Harry's house and glanced around for him.

“Ginny that you?” she heard Harry's voice from the adjoining room.

“Yeah, hey,” she said as they met in the middle and gave each other a quick hug.

“Come on in,” Harry motioned, and he sent Ginny's winter cloak to hang in the corner of the room.

They sat on opposite ends of the sofa, and the silence that settled in felt a little awkward. And while they had always remained friends, she hadn't really spent a lot of alone time with Harry after their break-up. He was probably wondering why the hell she was here. She started to question the decision herself when Harry spoke up, “So it's actually good timing that you reached out. Had been meaning to write you myself.”

“Yeah? What about?” Ginny asked curiously.

“Oh, no, you first. It can wait. You mentioned you needed my help with something. Let's start there. How can I be of service?” Harry asked.

Ginny considered whether she should push Harry to share his news first, before her desperation won out and she explained, “Well the thing is I'm completely shite at really anything with the press. My last interview was a bit of a train wreck. Kind of been avoiding them since, but I won't be able to keep that up forever.”

Harry nodded along knowingly, and it made Ginny wince as she asked, “You saw?”

“No, but your mum has sent her fair share of owls demanding a full detailing of your current relationship status after watching them. I try to tell her you're just an awkward person, but she refuses to listen,” Harry explained.

If Ginny were closer she'd swat at Harry's arm for the dig, but instead she just chuckled and said, “I swear that woman is going to drive me mad if she doesn't give it a rest already.”

“Yeah, it can be a lot.” Harry agreed, having had firsthand experience from the time that Harry and Ginny had dated. He added, “While we're on the subject though, _is_ there anyone special in your life now that you've, you know, come out? Because you and Sam aren't, right?”

“Nope, Sam and I really are just friends. And there hasn't been anything serious, had a couple maybes, but nothing has made it off the runway yet,” Ginny replied. _Not technically a lie since Hermione and I aren't officially together_ , she immediately countered her nagging conscience.

She noticed a strange look on Harry's face, and quickly asked him, “You okay?”

Harry furrowed his brow and started, “I, well. Okay don't get me wrong, I really am so happy for you for coming out and living your truth. I guess I've just always hoped I hadn't pushed you to it. You know, if I was that bad... at the relationship stuff.”

“Don't be daft,” Ginny laughed under the assumption he had to be joking. When she realized he wasn't laughing back she questioned, “Oh you're serious then?”

Harry only shrugged.

She hadn't been expecting this, so she scrambled to formulate a response, “If I'm being honest our relationship _did_ help me to realize I was gay.”

Harry's face fell and Ginny rushed to add, “No, Harry, that's only because I knew that if I couldn't make it work with an amazing, brilliant, handsome guy like you, being with a man wasn't in the cards for me. And then my first kiss with a girl confirmed my hunch. It was only a stupid dare at a party, but I could still tell kissing girls was more up my alley.”

Harry smiled and a flash of relief seemed to wash over him,“Right, got it. I just care about you and hoped I hadn't treated you wrong or anything.”

“Nothing of the sort, silly,” Ginny assured as she returned Harry's smile.

Harry nodded conclusively and seemed to remember the purpose of Ginny's visit, “Good, so back to these interviews. Sounds like you want to mask your reactions and control your facial expressions a bit, yeah?”

Ginny quickly agreed, “Yeah, I mean I swear it was like the reporter from my last interview was in my head and pushing all my buttons. She really got under my skin and clearly it showed.”

Harry's face grew angry as he replied, “Know how that goes, Legilimency is illegal for the press, but there's the desperate sort out there that still go for it from time to time.”

Ginny asked, “So what should I do? As much as I'd like to, I can't turn down every interview request I get. Coach would kill me.”

Harry assured her, “Most of the time, a reporter isn't nearly skilled enough at it to tap into a full picture or influence your mind, so they 'd likely just see flashes of things and to get an idea of what topics would make you most uncomfortable. Bloody irritating.”

Just as Ginny worried there wasn't anything to do about it and she was powerless, Harry continued, “I could give you lessons to defend against it, same way Severus taught me back when, you know.” Harry halted his statement, and Ginny knew he still didn't like to talk about what they had been through. Snape was an especially difficult topic for Harry, after learning his true allegiance and the sacrifices he made along the way.

Ginny opened her mouth to say something comforting, the actual word choice not yet formulated, but then Harry continued on more evenly, “Occlumency is actually a great foundation for stilling your mind and controlling your reactions in general.”

Ginny was relieved to hear of a solution and eagerly asked, “Perfect, when do we start?”

Harry seemed to recognize her sense of urgency and grinned before replying, “I guess now, if it suits you that is?”

Ginny nodded enthusiastically and confirmed, “I need to get this under control like yesterday.”

Harry stood and gestured for her to follow him into the center of the room as he explained, “Okay, so the trick of it is to rid yourself of the things you don't want others to know. If they are trying to infiltrate your mind and you make it completely blank, there's nothing for them to go off of. As you become more advanced you can get a little fancy with it, but I think the basics will suffice in your situation.”

He continued, “The trap most people fall into is to start thinking about what they want to hide, but if you focus on other things it's very distracting to anyone trying to see within your mind.”

“Got it, and how do I do that?” Ginny questioned.

“Uh, kind of hard to explain. Easiest to just practice clearing your mind completely, but the trap most people fall into is to start thinking about what they want to hide. If you focus on other things it's very distracting to anyone trying to see within your mind,” Harry explained.

“Okay, and how do I know when someone is using Legilimency against me? What does it feel like?” Ginny asked.

Harry thought a moment, and then seemed to reach a decision, “Well, like this.”

Before Ginny could question further, Harry drew his wand and waved it at her.

She instantly felt pressure in her head, like it was under siege. She slammed her eyes closed in discomfort. And then there were flashes of white light, it felt like lightning striking in her mind.

She heard Harry call out from across the room, “You're okay, just focus. Clear your mind.”

And instead of doing that, she panicked. She panicked that she wouldn't be able to clear her mind, and that Harry would be able to see the real reason she was here.

The flashes of white turned into flashes of moments from her life. She saw herself sinking a Quaffle through a hoop in her green Harpies robes, then she was yelling in celebration as she jumped up and down while holding the Quidditch Cup trophy above her head, then she was hugging Hermione in the Astronomy tower.

Ginny tried to think of anything other than Hermione. She was relieved that it actually seemed to be working, she was talking to McGonagall about the international quidditch tournament proposal. And just when she thought she had it under control, she suddenly saw something she hadn't seen before. It was her and Hermione walking out of a pub together, they linked arms, smiled at each other and apparated off. Then they were suddenly kissing at Ginny's flat. The next bit Ginny remembered all too well, they had woken up next to each other and Ginny ran from the room to get ill.

 **  
** Suddenly it was all over. The flashes, the pressure, the invasion all ended and she was in control again.

Unsure of exactly what Harry would have seen, she tried to casually check on the degree of damage done, “Uh, Harry, you didn't happen to see certain memories from my life just now, did you?”

Harry looked to be in complete shock as he stammered, “But I thought you, but you said.”

Ginny sighed and irritably replied, “I'll take that as a yes. Bloody hell, Harry, you didn't tell me you would _actually_ read my mind.”

Harry shrugged and pointed out, “Not sure it would help much if I only pretended to try and read your mind, Ginny. Besides, you didn't tell me you had something to hide.”

Ginny quickly argued, “Wouldn't have been hiding it very well if I did that then, would I? No avoiding it now I guess. Look, don't freak out but-”

Harry cut in, “Freak out? Who's freaking out? _I'm_ not freaking out, it would only mean that my dead best friend's sister is... is... and with my other best friend who was- Nope. I mean what were you even thinking starting things up with her like that, Ginny?”

“I swear it wasn't planned and it definitely wasn't intentional. And it's complicated, I'm still trying to figure out what the hell is going on, truly. I don't want this getting out and making a huge mess and hurting people if it turns out to be nothing,” Ginny explained.

She added after a pause, “Looks like I'm off to a good start,” as she gestured at Harry as though he were Exhibit A of the chaos that would ensue if word of this got out.

Harry scoffed and agreed, “Well I can't blame you for wanting to keep things quiet, can you imagine?”

Ginny winced, and Harry shifted gears, “Shit, ignore that. Look people will either get it or they won't. I'm not thrilled how things started between you two, but if I'm being honest, it does answer a few questions I've had along the way. Besides I may be sort of seeing someone that I haven't told anyone about myself, so I can't exactly scold you for keeping secrets.”

Ginny was relieved to hear she wasn't the only one with a secret. She quickly pressed for info, “Spill.”

Harry ran his hand through his hair and informed, “Similar story really, other than the whole- never mind. Things kind of took out of nowhere. At first, we didn't know what to make of it all and how things would go, so we didn't want to cause a scene about it by telling everyone. Sure as hell didn't want to deal with the press either. But I guess things are pretty serious now so I should probably get used to talking about it since, well, we _might_ be a little bit engaged.”

Ginny furrowed her brow and pressed for clarification, “There's no such thing as being _a little_ _bit_ engaged Harry. You're either engaged or you're not. So which is it, then?”

Harry grinned and answered, “We are: Luna and I that is. Asked her last week and she said yes.”

Ginny's eyes went wide in shock, “What, Luna?! When did this all happen?!”

She continued on after an eye roll, “Ugh I'm so annoyed that my current situation would make giving you a hard time for not telling me extremely hypocritical right now. I'm happy for you though.”

Harry replied, “Same and same – it's just going to take some time for me to get used to I think. But yeah I don't know exactly when things happened, maybe it was sort of always there, but just took us awhile to realize. Then once we did, there was no going back.”

Ginny nodded before responding, “Fair. Luna's done for though, I talked to her last week and she didn't make a peep about it.”

Harry chuckled as he started to plead, “Be nice, Ginny, it's mostly on me. I needed some peace and quiet, kind of went on longer than I planned for it to.”

“Fine, but only if you don't mention that you know about us to Hermione. No one's supposed to know.” Ginny bartered.

“Deal,” Harry agreed.

**...**

Ginny spent the two days leading up to Christmas at the Burrow helping Molly with holiday preparations, and spending time with her brothers as they trickled in. She went to bed on Christmas Eve with the excitement of an eight year old. But it wasn't a load of presents she was anxiously awaiting this year, it was Hermione.

She would arrive tomorrow afternoon, and Ginny couldn't wait to see her, even if she would have to be careful to limit their interactions.

She was outside practicing her Quaffle throws with George. She felt her watch vibrate and instantly smiled. So she set an alarm for when Hermione was due to arrive, what of it?

She snuck one last throw past George and into the practice hoop behind him and felt satisfied to end there. She may have already intentionally hit him with a couple curveballs as payback for pranking her when she first arrived home. When one of them knocked the wind out of him she decided they were even.

She started jogging away while George went to grab the Quaffle out of the practice hoop's net.

“Oi, where you off to?” George hollered after her.

“Going to see if Mum needs help in the kitchen,” she yelled back. She knew George would doubt the accuracy of that statement, but wouldn't risk getting pulled into kitchen duties himself to fact check her.

She instead went right by the kitchen, through the house and snuck out the front door. She had set her alarm for 10 minutes before Hermione was due to arrive, well because obviously Hermione would be early as usual.

She quickly cast the Invisibility charm, and waited for Hermione's arrival. She didn't have to wait long to be proven right. Hermione apparated onto their front porch with the grace one would expect from a witch of Hermione's caliber. Just as she stepped up to rap on the door Ginny called out, “No, wait!” as she leapt forward and caught Hermione's hand.

Thankfully, Hermione recognized her voice and wasn't too startled as a result, “Good God, Ginny, aren't you a little old to be camped out in your front yard assaulting holiday visitors like a hooligan?”

“Shh, come with me,” Ginny said as she tugged at Hermione's hand. She quickly cast the Invisibility spell on Hermione as well.

“What are you- where are we going?” Hermione asked.

Ginny sensed the hint of irritation in being diverted from entering the Burrow as planned. And for some reason, it made Ginny smile as she teased, “Wouldn't you like to know?”

Ginny knew from Hermione's silence that she had simply rolled her eyes in response, and her smile only widened. She dragged Hermione around the side of the house, through the backyard, which was void of George thankfully, and behind the shed. Even if they weren't currently invisible, they'd be completely out of sight.

She lightly backed Hermione up so that she stood against the shed. Ginny wanted to keep track of where she was.

“Were you planning to say hello then?” Hermione finally asked in annoyance.

“Yes, hi, I'm happy to see you,” Ginny said.

“You can't see me,” Hermione quickly corrected. “Care to explain why that's the case? Or why we are hiding out behind the shed perhaps?” Hermione asked. She quickly added, “To be clear, it's redundant to hide like this when nobody can see us in the first place.”

Ginny only laughed and agreed, “One would think so, unless you have a brother like George. He's rigged the whole damn property with his ridiculous contraptions. I swear he thinks we're his test subjects for his new inventions. Anyways, just wanted to give you something before you step into the chaos that is the Burrow.”

“We said no gifts, Ginny, remember?” Hermione reminded.

“This is more of a gag really,” Ginny explained.

“How romantic, you can open mine first then,” Hermione decided. And not a moment later, she heard Hermione rustling through what Ginny referred to as her 'bag of far too many items'.

“So you got me one as well?” Ginny accused.

“Maybe mine's more of a prank,” Hermione suggested. Ginny felt Hermione's hand find her arm and trace down along it until she reached her hand, leaving behind a trail of heat.

“You hate pranks,” Ginny argued in what she hoped was an even voice.

“Just open it,” Hermione demanded. She saw a small black box come into view as it exited the cover of Hermione's winter cloak. The box floated over until it landed in Ginny's open hand, which Hermione released once it clutched the gift.

Ginny inspected the box and shook it lightly, just in case. Satisfied that it wasn't actually a prank, Ginny removed the top and first found a note in Hermione's handwriting. She unfolded the small piece of parchment and read the note aloud:

_Ginny,_

_One can hardly imagine a world as bright without a superstar like you in it._

_Happy Christmas,_

_Hermione_

Suddenly Ginny wasn't quite so sure this wasn't a joke of some sort. She peered down into the box, thereby entering into view a small silver necklace with a star on it.

Ginny laughed and confessed, “Impressive, even your gifts are laced with malice. Good work, Granger, We may make a prankster out of you yet,” as she pocketed the note.

“Whatever do you mean?” Hermione asked innocently, yet her tone was all-knowing. She had wanted to get this reaction from Ginny.

Ginny found herself shaking her head even though she knew Hermione couldn't see it as she responded, “Come on, superstar? Just wow, couldn't resist the chance to taunt me even on a holiday.”

Hermione chuckled back and promised, “Only an innocent coincidence that I couldn't help but point out.”

Ginny asked “So what then?” before she quickly caught on, “Ah, the astronomy tower.”

Hermione confirmed, “Very good.”

And Ginny imagined it's how Hermione would sound when she informs a student they were correct in class, which both made her chuckle and ignited a desire in her to distinguish the difference between herself and a student to Hermione. She held back given their current location and only teased, “So you are a big softy after all.”

“Maybe just for you. Don't tell anyone though, I've got a reputation to uphold,” Hermione joked.

Ginny quickly put her mind at ease, “Don't worry, they wouldn't believe me if I tried.”

She soon felt a swift whack on her arm and laughed before responding more seriously, “Thank you, I'll wear it during my matches for good luck. Speaking of which, this is for you.” Ginny reached into her coat pocket and handed a messily wrapped package to Hermione.

She quickly grew insecure over the gift she had arranged for Hermione. Even though hers had been masked as a jab, Hermione's gift was really sweet, and suddenly Ginny wasn't sure if she went the right route.

But the package was already being ripped open, and when she saw Hermione reveal the Holyhead Harpies scarf, hat, and season tickets she had gotten her, she knew it was too late to do anything about It now.

She quickly explained, “So it's just that I knew you don't have them, and unfortunately for you, you'll likely be stuck coming to games now and then, so figured I'd do the heavy lifting for you so all you have to do is show up.”

She saw the tickets being lifted into the air as Hermione asked, “Ginny are these season tickets?”

Ginny quickly explained, “Yes, but not that I expect you at every game, I just wanted you to be able to come as much or as little as you want and not to have to worry about buying tickets. Sorry, it's stupid just toss them.”

She heard Hermione laugh before she said, “Gin, stop, I love it. I can't wait to come watch you play.”

“You don't have to say that,” Ginny said.

“For the last time, I don't hate quidditch! Especially not if you're playing,” Hermione explained, and it made Ginny smile.

Ginny was happy, Hermione made her happy. And she hoped she made Hermione happy too.

She suddenly wanted to know if Hermione was smiling back.

So Ginny lightly reached out until she felt Hermione's right shoulder. She lightly traced along it, up her neck, along her jaw to her chin, and then finally up to the corner of her mouth. Hermione _was_ smiling, and it caused Ginny's own to widen.

Without thinking on it, she lightly traced her thumb across Hermione's bottom lip. She felt Hermione's lip tremble with her quick exhale. Being caught up in the moment of feeling how soft and smooth Hermione's lip was delayed her realization that Hermione's hands were on her with a tight grip on the sides of her coat. And suddenly she realized the effect she was having on Hermione which, in turn, had her questioning her next move.

And then as she reached the opposite corner of Hermione's mouth, she felt her lips part and her tongue lightly graze over her thumb. While it was only the slightest bit of contact, it drove Ginny absolutely crazy.

Ginny wanted everything all at once when it came to Hermione. She wanted to take things slow, to make sure they do this right. But she also really, really wanted to pick her up, carry her into the shed, throw her on the table, rip her clothes off, and have her way with her. She wanted to tell her that she loves her, that she always has, but she also wanted to make sure they were ready before she said that.

On both counts, it felt too soon, but the reality was that she wasn't sure how long she could hold out. Her head started to swirl and she felt herself becoming dangerously close to opting for the shed idea, so instead she leaned in and gave Hermione a lingering peck on the lips. She then felt Hermione's hand find and lightly squeeze the back of her neck in response, and yet again she wanted so much more. Her entire body became hot despite the cool winter air.

She forced herself to pull back as she said, “We should probably head in, people will start to think something's up if you're too late.”

She felt Hermione's nails dig lightly into her neck for a fleeting moment before she was released as Hermione agreed, “Yeah, you're right.”

**...**

Dinner was your usual Weasley dining experience, featuring Charlie droning on about dragons, Bill refusing to divulge any detail about his work as a curse-breaker at Gringotts, George alternating from giving everyone hell to minding his own business, but more realistically plotting mischief for the remainder of the holiday, the entire room stifling eye rolls as Percy boasted about his 'rise to greatness' in the Ministry of Magic, and Mrs. Weasley demanding a timeline on when Bill and Fleur would be having their first baby.

Ginny kept quiet for the most part, only delving into detail when Mr. Weasley asked her how the Hogwarts quidditch season was going so far. After she expressed that the kids were doing all the work, Hermione was quick to jump in and announce Ginny was downplaying her accomplishments, and she insisted that Ginny was completely rebuilding the program from the ground up while instilling a newfound love of the game on campus. Ginny felt herself blush at Hermione's high praise, and that was before the two made eye contact and Hermione beamed at her. Ginny decided she was suddenly quite thirsty, and drained the rest of her Butterbeer.

All in all, the meal was mostly uneventful, until of course Harry cleared his throat and decided to address the room, “I've just a quick thing to say.”

The room went quiet, Harry was never one to make announcements, so it was quite the rarity. Ginny already knew what was coming next, and it had taken great effort to not ruin the surprise for anyone.

“I've, well I've fallen in love, and gotten engaged,” Harry explained.

“To who?” Hermione asked in shock. Ginny hadn't dared to tell her, it was Harry's news to share, and she wasn't about to risk creating a rift when Harry had found out about her and Hermione _far_ earlier than planned.

“So that's the thing,” Harry explained, “you all know her actually. She's with family today, but promised to come by soon.”

“Are you going to say who it is then, or are you planning to keep rambling on?” George pressed.

“It's Luna,” Harry finally confirmed.

And, judging by their faces, everyone was as surprised as Ginny had been at the news.

**...**

After bellies became fully burdened with food and drink, everyone gathered in the living room to bask in the cheery glow of the Christmas tree.

Without thinking, Ginny followed Hermione into the room and was about to join her on the sofa. However, as she went to sit, she realized a little space would probably be beneficial after the couple drinks they each had, so she awkwardly pulled up and jumped a seat over at the last second, effectively landing them on either side of George.

He instantly raised a brow, intrigued by Ginny's unusual behavior. He looked back and forth between them before smirking, and Ginny prepared for his commentary.

George soon fulfilled Ginny's expectation, “What's up with the two of you? Sad to think you used to be inseparable and now you can't even share a sofa.”

She rushed to supply an excuse, “Nothing's 'up', we just see each other plenty at work. Good to get a change of scenery.”

George tilted his head slightly as he carefully regarded Ginny, before quickly teasing, “Or has Hermione finally wised up to how much of a git you are?”

He spun his head in Hermione's direction and awaited her input.

Hermione still wasn't fully fluent in George talk, and looked at Ginny for help.

She was happy to oblige, “Oh ease up George it's past her bedtime you can hardly expect her to keep up.”

George laughed and high-fived Ginny as he said. “Good one.”

Hermione shook her head at them before the mention of her bedtime made her check her watch, “Speaking of, I should really be going.”

And Ginny hoped nobody noticed the way her face fell at hearing it, she wasn't ready to say goodnight to Hermione yet.

Thankfully, Arthur overheard and suggested, “Nonsense, stay for Molly's famous Boxing Day breakfast at least.”

His comment drew Molly's attention, and it seemed Hermione's plan of quietly sneaking out was long gone.

She insisted, “Oh, no, I couldn't take up space.”

Molly chimed in, “We've plenty of room, and I'm sure Ginny wouldn't mind if you bunked with her like old times. Isn't that right, Ginny?”

Ginny didn't trust herself to keep a steady face on the matter, so she decided it was a good time to go for the bit of wrapping paper under the tree from gift exchanges made earlier in the day.

“Ginny?” Molly repeated.

With her face hidden she finally replied, “What? Oh, sure, doesn't bother me.”

Ginny crumpled the paper into a ball as she faced back to the room.

Molly concluded, “There, see? Stay.”

Ginny felt Hermione's eyes on her, and knew they would be looking for her permission.

She again didn't trust herself to remain nonchalant were she to make eye contact with Hermione, so she started to toss the paper ball into the air as she assured, “ReallyMione, it's fine.”

The validity of that statement, however, remained to be seen.

She heard Hermione agree a moment later, “Alright then, I'll stay.”

Eager to get out from under her family's watch, Ginny led Hermione up the staircase to her room. When Hermione closed the door behind them and they were finally alone, Ginny didn't know how to act. She wanted to walk right up to Hermione and kiss her, but that probably wasn't a good idea. She looked at her bed nervously for a moment before turning back to Hermione and realizing that Hermione was watching her intently.

“Are you okay with this, Gin? I can still head back, or sleep on the couch even,” Hermione offered.

Ginny shook her head, “Don't be silly, it's fine.”

It wasn't. Ginny was anything but fine.

They carried on with readying themselves for bed, and then finally climbed in together. Ginny tried hard not to look over at Hermione, she knew it would only make matters worse.

“Ready for lights off?” she hurriedly asked.

Hermione nodded her confirmation, and a quick wave of her hand had the room completely dark save for the small square of moonlight allowed entry by her room's window. And it was just enough light to dance along Hermione's features, making her look more heavenly than she already does on her own.

Ginny lay still on her side of the bed, almost nervous to move. Hermione turned and faced out to the center of the room with her back to Ginny.She wanted to reach out and wrap her arm around her, but she also knew she could easily lose control of the situation in her current state.

She tried not to think of Hermione's tongue sliding along her thumb out in the yard. She tried not to think of Hermione's eyes on her at the dinner table. She tried not to think of how badly she wanted to show Hermione just how much she means to her, along with all the details of exactly what she wants to do to her. But she did, she thought of all of it, and it made her body temperature rise to an unbearable level.

She groaned and dramatically kicked her foot out of the blankets in attempt to cool off.

Hermione's voice sounded concerned, “Are you sure you're okay over there?”

She really wasn't. The closeness was killing her. But she replied, “All fine **,** I'm just hot.”

Hermione chuckled and agreed, “Yeah you are.”

Ginny's cheeks only grew warmer at the comment, and she growled, “That's not helping.”

Hermione remained silent, instead moving to turn back to face Ginny.

Ginny's reflexes were quick, and she had a hand to Hermione's shoulder before she could turn around as she questioned, “What are you doing?”

Hermione responded, “Kissing you goodnight.”

“No, don't,” Ginny said gruffly.

Hermione sounded confused, “What? Why?”

Ginny decided it was best to just be honest, “I- Well I don't trust myself to stop.”

It sounded pathetic, to hear herself admit it out loud, but it was true. She waited for Hermione to laugh again, to tease her, but instead she took Ginny's hand and brought it to her lips for a quick peck before settling it along her diaphragm, still held in her own. She then said, “Night Gin, Happy Christmas,”

Ginny wondered if maybe she wasn't the only one having a difficult time with their sleeping arrangements.

And suddenly her hand's location began to toy with her. She knew if she outstretched her finger even just halfway she'd reach-

Ginny heard Hermione's sharp inhale of air. She had actually just grazed her nipple instead of just thinking about it. Ginny froze with her finger still in contact with Hermione's nipple.

_Fuck, now what? Maybe if I don't move it will seem like an accident,_ she considered.

But then her curiosity got the better of her, “Hermione?”

“Yeah?” Hermione replied, her voice cracking in anticipation. And her tone of voice alone had already answered Ginny's question.

She pulled Hermione down flat against the bed and ran her hand up and over Hermione's breast, grabbing it lightly. Hermione panted in response.

She looked up to find Hermione's eyes staring into her own, they were dark.

Ginny continued to look right into those eyes as she slowly traced her hand down Hermione's chest, and along her stomach. She felt Hermione's heavy breathing. Something within her, something instinctive even, had told her that Hermione wanted her right then. The heavy breathing only confirmed it further. But still she needed to know for sure.

She slowly began to descend further downward, lightly tugging at the waistband of Hermione's pajama bottoms so that her intentions were clear. She was met with no resistance, Hermione only bit at her bottom lip and let out a shaky breath in response. So after a moment's pause, Ginny ran her hand underneath the fabric, along the beautiful curve of her female figure, and plunged two fingers into the depths of gloriously wet, sticky arousal.

Hermione whimpered, and it both relieved and excited Ginny beyond belief. It relieved her to know she wasn't the only one going absolutely out of their mind not being able to express physically what they were feeling inside as much as it excited her to know that the extent of her desire was mutual.

The problem was she hadn't thought this far ahead. Her suspicions were now confirmed, Hermione was definitely turned on, was definitely struggling to hold it together as much as she was.

But now here they were, with Ginny's hand exactly where it wanted to be at precisely the time it shouldn't be there, and she had no idea how to proceed.

Hermione's hand found her wrist, it was trembling. Ginny knew she didn't want the contact to stop, and she honestly wasn't sure whether her hand would be removed or ushered onward.

She could have sworn she felt a slight tug downward, but then Hermione suddenly released her hold on Ginny's wrist and whispered, “Oh God, Ginny, not here.”

And her voice sounded completely disheveled, distraught with desire even, but Ginny would respect her wishes.

She slowly removed her hand as she apologized, “I'm sorry, I didn't- I thought maybe I was going crazy. I just wanted to know.”

Hermione replied, “You're not crazy, and don't you dare apologize for something I want more than words can describe, okay? Just, not yet.”

“Okay,” Ginny confirmed. Ginny could feel hot, thick liquid slowly and surely pooling in her knickers. She didn't need to touch herself to test her own level of arousal.

She held her fingers out before her and examined them, Hermione still covered her fingertips, and Ginny was dying to know what she tasted like. She brought them closer and made to open her mouth, but then Hermione cast a cleaning spell, and there was nothing left to taste.

“What the heck?” Ginny complained, she had been so entranced she forgot she had an audience.

“Not yet, Ginny,” Hermione smirked.

She then grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled it back around her as she said, “Keep em still this time.”

Ginny took a deep breath, kissed Hermione's shoulder and said “Happy Christmas, Mione”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you are enjoying so far, let me know if you're feeling it and I will keep plugging away!!


	11. Nobody Knows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang reunites to ring in the new year, and Hermione and Ginny keep things as quiet as ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, I didn't intend for it to be so long between updates. Thank you for your patience and supportive comments- they're motivating and much appreciated. Very happy to be back to writing this and hope you enjoy the chapter. Note: I will be updating the story with some relevant tags/notes, please check them before reading.

**Hermione POV**

Hermione and Ginny grinned to one another and held hands as they apparated from Ginny's flat to the New Year's Eve party they were attending. Seamus had insisted on hosting their friends for a well-timed, and much needed, holiday reunion.

Except as Hermione surveyed the impressive display of classical architecture before her, she became certain an error had been made. There were white columns framing a tall, ornately carved wooden door, several floors of beautiful white stone exterior, steep, slate roofing, patterned brick fencing around the perimeter, golden lion statues on either side of the entry gate and tidy rows of shrubbery featured throughout the property.

“Are you sure we're at the right place?” Hermione questioned.

“This is the address on the invitation, yeah,” Ginny confirmed, though sounding equally surprised by her surroundings.

“Well I thought this was at Seamus' place, not some rented mansion. This must have cost a fortune, even just for the night,” Hermione said.

“This _is_ Seamus' flat,” Harry explained, he and Luna having apparated to meet them out front of the party as planned.

“That's ridiculous,” Hermione scolded their newly arrived friend as they took turns hugging each other in greeting.

“What, didn't you know he won the Lotto?” Harry asked as he released Ginny.

“No!” Ginny and Hermione exclaimed in unison after quickly glancing at each other.

“Looks like his luck finally turned around then,” Ginny added.

“I'll say, and thank goodness for that,” Hermione chimed in, “I worried about that one.”

“Same if I'm honest,” Harry chuckled.

“Really? I always thought he had the distinct aura of gold about him,” Luna informed.

Ginny flashed a perplexed look in Luna's direction, and Hermione deemed it adorable before concluding, “Well, sounds like your instincts were right again, Luna. It's chilly though, shall we head inside?”

One thing was for sure as they ascended the cobbled stone steps leading up to the front door, Hermione was glad they decided to dress up in the end- after much debate, mind you.

Once inside, the four of them gawked at the lavish interior, made all the more impressive by the festive decor and delicacies. Attendants just inside the entry stored their coats, and they were offered champagne and hors d'oeuvres as they made their way into what could almost be best described as a ballroom. Seamus had quickly exceeded Hermione's expectations as holiday host **.**

With Harry and Luna walking in just ahead of her and Ginny, it occurred to Hermione how striking a pairing the two of them were despite how surprised she was when she first learned they were together. The contrast of Harry's dark hair to Luna's light hair, their complimentary outfits, the way they beamed at each other, and how Luna seemed to give Harry hope again after so much suffering while Harry kept Luna grounded considering her whimsical tendencies.. it made her happy, she realized, seeing them together.

The party was a bit bigger than she'd imagined, but Hermione reckoned with the size of the space, it'd almost feel strange if it wasn't. Despite the crowd, they soon spotted Neville alone at one of the tables spread out around the room and were quick to join him.

“Neville, why're you sitting here all alone? You know you could have apparated in with us if you didn't have someone in mind to bring,” Harry said.

“What, like a date?” Neville asked before staring down at the table grimly, “We all know _that'll_ never happen.”

“Oh don't be dramatic,” Hermione replied. Neville had grown both quite a bit taller and significantly stronger since their early years together at Hogwarts. Further, she knew from an announcement at the school year's orientation that he was currently publishing an impressive dissertation on the advancement of identifying and harvesting remedial properties from various plants as Professor Sprout's understudy, which she was not so secretly dying to read and dissect in great length with him at the soonest possible opportunity. There was even a signed arrangement that he replace Professor Sprout as the Hogwarts Herbology professor the following year. All things considered, Hermione thought _surely_ Neville must know by now he'd have no problem drawing female attention if he'd simply exhibit a bit of confidence.

Instead, Neville sulked as he gestured to his left, “No, really. Take her, for instance, I couldn't get a pretty girl like that to notice me if I had all the money in the world.”

The group followed Neville's gaze across the room to a slender blonde woman donning a trendy black dress and silver flats. She was fairly tall, maybe 5'8” or so if Hermione had to guess. She was, in fact, beautiful.

Upon realizing Neville truly was down on himself and not just being tempermental, Hermione quickly began to assure him, “Don't be ridiculous Neville, you're a handsome lad and any woman would be lucky to- hold on, why does she look so familiar?”

It was Ginny who made the connection first and slowly filled the silence, “Don't they almost look a bit like... Draco?”

“She goes by Summer now, actually,” Seamus quietly informed as he joined them from an adjoining table and then continued, “Hi by the way, and welcome!”

Before anyone else could reply, Harry irritably asked, “Seamus, what the hell is _Malfoy_ doing here? Thought this was supposed to be a reunion of friends.”

Seamus continued, “Right you are, Harry, and Summer _is_ my friend. We ran into each other awhile back and realized we get on quite well now.” Upon seeing Harry's facial expression become still more revolted, Seamus held up a hand and knowingly added, “Look, just give her a chance, okay? Things have changed, for all of us.”

Harry appeared nothing short of flabbergasted, “But..”

Seamus glanced over his shoulder to the group of recently arrived guests summoning him and politely excused himself as quickly as he'd joined, “Sorry, I've got to keep making the rounds, but I'll be back in a bit. I'm really glad you're all here. Enjoy!”

They sat in silence while processing the information until Luna airily mused, “It's rather lovely, isn't it?.. Summer embracing her truth.”

Harry, mouth agape, spun to face Luna as he inquired, “Sure, okay, that's all well and good, but are we forgetting everything that's happened? Regardless of gender, this is still _Malfoy_!”

Luna seemed to ignore Harry and smiled as she composedly concluded, “I think I'll go say hi, would anyone care to join me?”

“Absolutely not. I'm perfectly fine here, thanks,” Harry stated plainly as he stubbornly crossed his arms.

“I'll go,” Neville said after a pause.

“What?!” Harry regarded him incredulously, “You can't be serious, Neville, Malfoy was horrible to you!”

Neville shrugged and dug his hands into his pockets as he calmly explained, “I've let it go. Anger's too heavy to carry around all the time, you know? And if Seamus thinks she deserves a second chance, maybe I will too.”

The pair walked off moments later, but Hermione didn't dare leave Harry's side, and she hurriedly decided on a distraction, “C'mon, looks like there's tons of fancy sweets in the next room over. It'd be a shame if they went to waste.”

She'd wait to hear Luna and Neville's report on the matter before determining next steps for herself. She did notice, however, when Luna rejoined them and Neville didn't- she instead spotted him deep in discussion with Summer beside the bar.

Hermione shivered when she suddenly felt Ginny's warm breath against her ear as she whispered, “Certainly seems Neville's got her attention now, doesn't it?” Apparently she wasn't the only one to notice, and Hermione couldn't help but smile as she reached out and briefly squeezed Ginny's hand.

Luna spotted a couple of her old friends from Ravenclaw and asked Harry, who had been noticeably quiet since her return to the group, “Come say hi with me?”

Harry only huffed, clearly still hung up on events prior.

“Don't be frustrated with me please, I love you,” Luna said softly as she looped her arm around his and gently turned him towards her. And Hermione thought that Luna would really be quite difficult to stay mad at.

Harry looked at Luna and, after a moment's pause, seemed to soften as he grumbled, “Love you too, let's go.”

Hermione smirked to herself as she watched them walk off together.

**…**

Not long after, Sam showed up holding hands with the woman Hermione recognized as Ginny's Holyhead Harpies teammate who attended the Hogwarts signing session last term. She quickly learned her name was Amelia, and that the two women were stopping off from a nearby party they previously attended.

Ginny, now a bit inebriated, greeted them ecstatically and then immediately insisted that she and her teammate head to the nearby bar to pick up the next round of drinks for the four of them, effectively leaving Hermione and Sam to their own devices.

“So, you and Amelia?” Hermione started.

“Yeah, it's still new, but we have Ginny to thank actually,” Sam replied, and Hermione nodded with a smile as she recalled Ginny's touting that her strategizing to set Sam up with her crush at the Quidditch Gala was a success.

“What about you two, though?” Sam asked before continuing, “Happy it seems you're working it out.”

Hermione's body tensed and she felt her blood start to boil as she crisply asked, “And what is it you've heard Ginny and I are working out, exactly?”

Sam's eyes went wide as she started to stammer, “Oh- uh- no. No, I just meant working _together,_ glad you seem to be working well together- at Hogwarts. Yeah, Ginny's always saying how you're a great colleague. Sorry, ignore me, I'm a little drunk and probably not making much sense.”

“Don't worry, we've had a fair bit to drink here as well,” Hermione explained politely, although she figured Sam wasn't _that_ drunk. And Hermione decided she wasn't either, and that she'd be every bit as perturbed even if she hadn't had a sip of alcohol that day.

It was at that precise moment when Ginny and Amelia returned with more champagne, but before Ginny could pass hers over, Hermione had wrapped a hand around Ginny's wrist and politely said, “Excuse us just a moment, would you?”

“Course,” Amelia replied.

“Back in a flash,” Hermione assured with a smile, before dragging Ginny over to the bathroom, and she swore she heard Sam mutter something that sounded a lot like a curse word behind them as she led Ginny off.

Hermione quickly locked the door with far too fancy a handle behind them and then forced herself to ignore the beautiful marble counter-top as she took the glasses from Ginny and set them on it. She then approached Ginny, backing her against the wall, as she started in, “So, question..”

Ginny smirked slyly, quirked a brow and replied, “Wow, gotta say I didn't picture things happening quite like this, but if you ask right, I'll be happy to answer.”

It wasn't until Hermione felt Ginny's hands at her hips, pulling her closer, that she fully realized Ginny was misunderstanding the point of their visit to the restroom.

Hermione grimaced as she retorted, “What? Gross! Don't be crass.” She broke out of Ginny's grasp and took a step back as she sternly made her intentions clear, “No, I'm simply pondering how it is Sam knows about us when we specifically agreed to wait to tell people until we're ready. Which, last time I checked, we weren't!”

Ginny's face fell before she gulped and replied, “And just to confirm, what are you suggesting Sam knows about us?”

Hermione slowly exhaled in attempt to calm herself before insisting, “I know she knows, Ginny.”

Ginny explained, “Alright fine, she knows, but maybe if you hadn't been acting completely absurd the day you met her she wouldn't have been able to tell. I'm sorry my best friend can read me pretty well and after your fascinating display in the yard that day, she figured out something was going on before we were even together. She promised not to say anything, and we can trust her. Don't worry.”

Hermione recalled their visit to the Burrow for Arthur's birthday and decided that must have been why Sam kept her distance from Ginny the remainder of the afternoon. She took another calming breath and concluded, “I suppose one person knowing isn't the end of the world if we can trust her to keep quiet.”

Ginny drew down her bottom lip as she clenched her jaw, and Hermione instantly recognized something was still off, “Because nobody else knows, right?”

Ginny stuttered back, “Uh, um, hm.”

Hermione quickly felt her temperature begin to rise again as she repeated, “ _Right_ , Ginny?”

Ginny finally admitted, “Harry knows too, okay? He was helping me with some press control techniques and saw a memory of us kissing during an Occlumency lesson. It was a total accident, I swear. He also promised not to a say a word, to anyone.”

The time for calming breaths was over, “Christ, Ginny, you do understand there's certain things one should tell the person they're dating? This is one of them. Would have been really nice to know my best friend hates me and has just been pretending nothing's wrong.”

Ginny asked, “What do you mean 'hates you'? He doesn't hate us, he said it would take him time to get used to it fully, but he wants us to be happy. Look, I didn't want you to panic and ruin the holidays for you. I was planning to tell you back at Hogwarts.”

A serious look in Ginny's direction had her adding, “But fair point, and duly noted.”

Hermione knew Ginny had good intentions, so she finally sighed as she let up, “Okay, we can discuss this further later. Just please tell me that's everyone.”

Ginny was quick to confirm, “That's it, I promise. Well other than anyone who recognized how suspect it was for you to thirstily pull me into the bathroom with you during the middle of a New Year's Eve party.”

_Here we go,_ Hermione thought before replying, “You're incessantly infuriating, d'you know that?”

Ginny's sly grin returned as she informed, “Well _you're_ sexy when you're mad so, kinda set yourself up for it in a way.”

Hermione smirked reluctantly because only Ginny would have the nerve to test her like this just after digging her way out of trouble, “Oh is _that_ why you're a pain in my ass all the time?”

“Could certainly be a contributing factor,” was Ginny's response as she challengingly tipped her head back.

Hermione shook her head, “Such a child sometimes, I swear.”

Ginny moved swiftly, pulling Hermione into her as she said, “C'mere then, let me make it up to you.”

Hermione's breath hitched as Ginny kissed her assertively, if not a bit roughly, while holding the side of her neck. One of Ginny's hands soon made its way underneath her shirt and lightly ran up her side, and it was enough to cause Hermione to moan softly into Ginny's lips. She'd later blame the surprise or the alcohol, of course, but in reality Ginny just had that effect on her.

At hearing Hermione's reaction to her touch, Ginny leaned the slightest bit back, looked right into Hermione's eyes, and informed, “You wouldn't believe the things I wanna do to you right now.”

And hearing _that,_ well, it changed things. Because if Hermione had been feeling then what she felt now, Ginny wouldn't have been misinterpreting the purpose of their trip to the restroom at all. She leaned forward into Ginny, still backed against the wall, with one of her legs landing between Ginny's. She knew what she was doing, and the nervous laugh Ginny emitted was music to her ears. Hermione was fully content that Ginny seemed as impacted by the contact between the lower half of their bodies as she was.

Hermione slowly applied more pressure into Ginny, who quickly closed her eyes and muttered, “Fuck,” into her ear.

In a bizarre turn of events, Hermione had actually managed to somehow find herself startlingly close to having sex with Ginny, for their second first time, on New Year's Eve, in the bathroom at a party with their friends in attendance even after purposefully deciding to take things slow. And while it wasn't the move she knew she should make, Hermione couldn't help but look at Ginny's lips hungrily.

Before either could take things further, however, the unmistakable jolt of the door indicated someone was just outside it. They both froze- and waited. The sound of drunken laughter rang out and Hermione feared they had succeeded in outing themselves to the entire party.

But then they heard it: squabbling, “C'mon this isn't cute anymore, you promised you'd keep it together tonight.”

More sloppy laughing from the first voice soon followed by, “I'm totally fine I just can't walk, but you can carry me!”

A groan, and then the door jumped back as though weight had just been unloaded from it.

They stared at each other, and Hermione was sure Ginny's look of relief mirrored her own, “We should probably get back out there.”

“Agreed,” Hermione said as she went to open the door.

“Wait!” Ginny called, “Meet me on the balcony at midnight?”

“Don't be foolish, it's freezing,” Hermione replied.

“But I wanna kiss you,” Ginny said with a soft smile that quickly made Hermione melt, though she refused to let it show just then.

“I'll consider it,” Hermione smirked.

Ginny concluded, “Well I'll be there on the off chance you'll show.”

Hermione was having an increasingly hard time resisting the urge to kiss Ginny, and determined the two of them needed to get out of the bathroom as soon as possible, so she pecked Ginny on the cheek and instructed, “Wait a minute before following me out.”

“Oh, _now_ you want to play it cool,” Ginny sassed as Hermione rolled her eyes and shut the door behind her.

Back out at the party, Hermione was sure that their friends were at least somewhat buying her stupid excuse of where they'd run of to, but sloshed Neville, who had since rejoined the group, was unintentionally making her life difficult yet again, “I'm confused, so you did find it or no?”

“Find what?” came Ginny's approaching voice from behind her.

Hermione elbowed Ginny and cut in, “My earring of course.”

Thankfully, Ginny took the hint, “Oh right, yeah, we found it.”

It was Amelia who questioned further, “In the bathroom?”

Hermione noticed Sam's amused smile, which was immediately hidden beneath her hand, clumsily masked as some sort of itch.

Ginny, seemingly sensing she had caused the doubt leading to further inquiry, continued on, “Well no, we found it in the hallway, but then we went to the bathroom so I could help her put it in.”

“I'll bet you did,” Sam murmured beneath her hand, and Hermione could just make it out.

“Sorry, what?” Amelia asked Sam, and Hermione saw the way Ginny glared at Sam to cut it out.

Sam slightly shook her head and resurfaced from underneath her hand as she loudly corrected, “No nothing, just saying that I'm so glad we could all get together.” She then flashed an innocent smile at Ginny and mouthed what Hermione interpreted as, “Sorry.”

Needless to say, Hermione was not amused.

Thankfully, the group naturally transitioned into discussing how they should do this again soon, which spiraled into divulging about upcoming trips and important dates and finally landed them at Harry and Luna breaking the news of their engagement, which immediately became the central topic of their conversation.

The wedding would be taking place mere months off, they learned, and Hermione was astounded by how calm the two of them sounded about it all considering invitations would be going out soon when they hadn't even finalized a venue yet.

“We've got one in mind, just haven't quite gotten it signed-off,” Harry informed.

Hermione reminded herself, _Not my wedding, not my place nor my problem_ , because she knew she was moments off from sharing her opinion that Harry shouldn't rely on his being famous to secure a location this late in the game like that, which she assumed would be the only way to reserve a worthwhile place with such short notice.

And despite her best efforts, Hermione couldn't help but feel the slightest tinge of envy at how Harry and Luna could be so open about their relationship, and how their friends were so excited at the reveal when she highly doubted her and Ginny's relationship would be understood, much less accepted. Because, sure, it sounded like Harry hadn't completely written them off, yet, but they were lucky that was the case. There was simply no way they'd be met with widespread acceptance- especially if the full truth of their history got out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading- feel free to drop a comment to let me know if you're enjoying and want this continued. I also realize I'm covering some potentially sensitive topics, so feedback on how to best navigate these topics is welcome, and I have only good intentions by including them.


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